Despite the need to establish a full-fledged passenger car manufacturing plant in Kazipet, the railway company decided to build the POH.
Published Date – Friday 23rd March 23rd at 03:06pm
He doesn’t love her: The tax authority submitted a letter to the railway authorities on behalf of the state government, urging them to start construction of a Periodic Overhaul Unit (POH) (also known as a wagon repair shop) in Kazipet, promising to hand over an additional 10 acres of land to the railway authority. They are within the next two months. Despite the need to establish a full-fledged passenger car manufacturing plant in Kazipet, the railway company decided to build the POH. In January last year, the project contract was awarded to Power Mech-Taikisha JV (joint venture) at a cost of Rs 3,617.9 crore.
The factory was originally planned to be built in Secunderabad but was later moved to Kazipet. During the previous UPA government, the Ministry of Railways had applied for 55 acres of land for the construction of a bus factory. However, the project faced setbacks due to delays in handing over the land by the then unified rulers of Andhra Pradesh.
After the formation of Telangana, the state government purchased land for the endowment sector located on the outskirts of the village of Ayodhyapuram. The land was then handed over to the railway department.
However, the project was put on hold by the BJP-centric government. However, amid mounting pressure from the BRS government, the Center announced in the 2016-17 Railway Budget that a Periodic Overhaul Unit (POH) would be built in Kazipet. A total of 160 acres of land are required for the project, of which 54.32 acres have been allocated to the railway. An additional 105 acres of land have been requested for the project.
In response to this demand, the Telangana state government handed over 150 acres of land to the railway department on September 23, 2022, and promised to provide the remaining 10 acres of land later.
The workshop is expected to service 200 vans per month, and the entire project is scheduled to be completed by February 2025. This could provide employment for around 3,000 people.
Work is currently underway to clear and level the land, build composite walls and erect temporary sheds. The construction of the main workshop shed will start after the “Bhoomi Pooja” ceremony is officially performed. In addition, plans include the construction of 10 railway tracks in the unit.
Devulapalli Raghavender, JAC convener for Telangana Railway employees, urged the railway authorities to speed up the construction of the POH sheds. Raghavender, along with other union leaders, recently inspected the progress of the shed work at the proposed site on June 18.
Meanwhile, West MLA Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar said efforts will continue to set up a coach manufacturing plant in the region. The center had previously promised in the AP Restructuring Act 2014 to build a railway coach factory to Telangana, but the promise has still not been fulfilled.
