The Kerala state budget has offered a mixed bag in addressing the infrastructural goals and development plans of the city of Kochi.
Despite high expectations, Finance Minister KN Balagopal did not elaborate on the land acquisition and related preparatory work for the Kakkanad expansion of the Kochi Metro project.
The only reference was that around ₹507 crore has been set aside for 10 infrastructure projects in the state, including the Kochi Metro. There was no word on Kochi Metro Rail Limited’s request to provide ₹100 crore to compensate those who had surrendered their land and to complete the pending 60% of land acquisition.
The budget has not mentioned any specific allocation for land acquisition for GIFT City in Angamaly, proposed as part of the Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. Shri Balagopal reiterated that the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board has agreed to provide loan for acquisition of 144.9 hectares for the project. The budget remained silent on Kochi Mayor M. Anilkumar’s request to consider the civic body’s request to take back the land in Brahmapuram that it had bought at the behest of the state government, and thereby avoid cutting the cost of the land. Annual plan fund allocation.
However, Mr. Anil Kumar praised the Finance Minister for the allocation of ₹10 crore for Operation Breakthrough to solve the problem of waterlogging in the city. MLA KJ Maxi also expressed a similar view citing ₹10 crore allocated for Ro-Ro service.
MLA TJ Vinod termed the budget a “disappointment”, adding that the requests to modernize the KSRTC bus station in Ernakulam remained on paper. There was no specific mention of a bus station in the district, even as the budget mentioned that Rs 30 crore had been earmarked for developing depots in the state, he said. The Congress also criticized the lack of allocation for the proposed Goshree-Mamangalam road and Thewara elevated road.
The budget did not earmark funds for the next round of development of the Vaytila Mobility Hub and the second phase of the project to solve the traffic bottleneck at Vaytila Junction.