Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Saturday that alignment studies for three high‑speed rail corridors linked to Hyderabad are currently underway and that the central government has not sent any land acquisition requisitions to the relevant state governments.
Reddy clarified that any land acquisition being carried out at this stage would be illegal. He added that the railway minister had confirmed that no requisition has been issued and that the alignment studies for the Hyderabad‑Chennai, Hyderabad‑Bengaluru and Hyderabad‑Pune corridors are still in progress.
In a statement, he emphasized that any land acquisition carried out under the guise of high‑speed rail at this juncture is illegal.
The clarification comes amid land acquisition efforts by the Telangana government for the Hyderabad corridor and other projects that have faced resistance from farmers on the outskirts of the city.
Reddy said he had discussed the three corridors with Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who confirmed that once the alignment is finalised, the details will be shared with the respective state governments and farmers.
The central government will share finalized alignment details with state governments and farmers once the studies are complete.
