Detailed Scrutiny Needed to See if Centre’s Rare Earth Corridor Projects Aim to Take Over Our Mineral Wealth: P Rajeev

Thiruvananthapuram: Reacting to the Union Budget, Minister P Rajeev said the document appears, at first glance, to have overlooked Kerala. “Kerala has already announced a rare earth corridor, and now the Centre has proposed a similar project. This move requires careful scrutiny,” he said. “A detailed analysis is needed to understand whether these projects aim to take control of our rare earth minerals, which are in high demand in the manufacturing sector. Some proposed laws seem to give the Centre authority over the sale of these minerals.”

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal had already announced a rare earth corridor connecting Vizhinjam and Chavara in the state budget presented on 29 January.

On high-speed rail, Minister Rajeev said the state is ready to cooperate if the Centre initiated a corridor and appointed E Sreedharan to lead the project. “Despite Kerala being among the first states to propose such a corridor, our request was denied even after seven rail corridor projects were announced nationwide. The state government had itself initiated and submitted the proposal,” he added.

Regarding AIIMS, Rajeev said Kerala had proposed three locations, but the Centre approved only one. “They required the land to be under government control. We allocated land in Kinaloor and handed it over to the Health Department. Several other states have received AIIMS, yet our request was denied. The rightful share of central funding was also withheld. Kerala had requested 50 percent allocation of Union funds, but the Finance Commission capped it at 41 percent, following existing norms,” he noted.