THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL), also known as K-Rail, which is operating under a new mandate to undertake large-scale railway projects, hopes to secure around Rs10,000 crore projects over the next two years.
K-Rail, which has already secured three railway projects worth approximately Rs720 crore within Kerala through a joint venture with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), is gearing up to secure more such projects across South India.
Talking to businessbenchmark.news at the K-Rail office, Anil Kumar, additional general manager of KRDCL, said K-Rail has the expertise and workforce to undertake large engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts with railways.
Smart City PMC
K-Rail was never bogged down by the long-drawn efforts it has put in the ambitious SilverLine project which is still waiting for the Centre’s go-ahead.
Instead of wasting time, K-Rail had moved forward and signed up the project management consultancy (PMC) contract with Smart City, a project where it could turn in a profit.
K-Rail-RVNL alliance
As is known, K-Rail is a joint venture entity where Kerala Government owns 51 per cent and Central Government holds the remaining 49 per cent. K-Rail has joined hands with RVNL to form an alliance to bid for railway projects.
In this joint venture, Â K-Rail holds 51 per cent in with the remaining 49 per cent stake held by RVNL.
The alliance has secured the contract for the renovation of Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway station which has been valued at Rs439 crore. The project which has already commenced has a completion target of 42 months.
This is a crucial project for K-Rail as it awaits the Railway Board’s approval for the semi-high-speed SilverLine rail project that had made waves in the state.
Under the Central Government’s Amrit Bharat Scheme, the aim is to modernise Thiruvananthapuram Central Station with state-of-the-art facilities.
Varkala station
Earlier, the K-Rail-RVNL alliance had also secured the contract for upgrading Varkala Railway Station to international standards, where construction is currently ongoing.
The project, with a completion target of 36 months, has commenced about 6 months ago at a project cost of Rs123 crore.
ABS system
It is K-Rail-RVNL alliance that secured the contract to install an Automatic Block Signaling (ABS) system on the 102.74 km rail route between Ernakulam South and Vallathol Nagar railway stations. The project, valued at Rs156.47 crore, is expected to be completed within 750 days.
K-Rail has also bagged the project to construct 27 railway over-bridges in Kerala. Construction has commenced at Nilambur Yard, which has received operational approval. Land acquisition is progressing for the over-bridge at Polayathodu in Kollam district.
