Thiruvananthapuram: The actual cost of the proposed SilverLine semi-high speed railway project has been a matter of dispute between K-Rail Corporation, the implementing agency, and its detractors.
In the latest development in this regard, a document obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act says that NITI Aayog has calculated that the project would cost Rs 1,26,081 crore.
Incidentally, this document has exposed the claim of K-Rail that NITI Aayog had not carried out any cost estimate regarding SilverLine.
The RTI document, which was obtained by M T Thomas, an activist of the Anti-SilverLine Council, is a copy of an office memorandum between NITI Aayog and Kerala Government.
K-Rail authorities had recently claimed that NITI Aayog had only asked them to clarify why the cost of SilverLine was less than Metro Rail. No cost estimate was suggested by NITI Aayog, the K-Rail officials had added.
However, in the office memorandum, NITI Aayog states that instead of the per kilometre cost of Rs 121 crore mentioned in the detailed project report (DPR), the real expenses would be Rs 238 crore and the total spending Rs 1.26 lakh crore.
Similarly, while the DPR says the cost after excluding central and state taxes would be Rs 49,918 crore, NITI Aayog quotes the figure of Rs 91,289 crore.
Meanwhile, K-Rail officials claimed that after NITI Aayog suggested its cost estimate, K-Rail had entrusted Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited (RITES) to conduct an estimate audit. NITI Aayog was later convinced about K-Rail’s estimate based on the report prepared by RITES, said the officials.
However, those opposing SilverLine have questioned the intentions behind employing RITES for carrying a cost estimate as the initial study as well as DPR preparation was done earlier by another agency named SYSTRA.
Moreover, K-Rail authorities have not explained how they convinced NITI Aayog about the huge difference in cost estimates.
