Centre denies seeking land from states for three high-speed rail corridors

Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said alignment studies for three proposed high-speed rail corridors linked to Hyderabad are currently underway and that the Centre has not sent any land acquisition requisitions to the concerned state governments.

Any land acquisition being carried out for the same at this juncture is "illegal", he said in a statement.

Reddy's clarification came amid land acquisition efforts by the Telangana government for the rail corridor and other projects which faced resistance from farmers on Hyderabad outskirts.

Reddy said he discussed the proposed HyderabadChennai, HyderabadBengaluru and HyderabadPune High-Speed Rail corridors with Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

"The railway minister clarified that no land acquisition requisition has been sent to the respective state governments and that any land acquisition being carried out in the name of High-Speed Rail at this stage is illegal," he said.

He quoted the railways minister as saying that .