Odisha gets allocation of Rs 10,012 crore for railway sector
Bureau,Odishabarta
Bhubaneswar: The Centre allocated Rs 10,012 crore in the Union Budget for the development of railway sector in Odisha. It is the highest allocation for the state so far. This time, the state has got Rs 278 crore more compared to last year’s allocation of Rs 9734 crore.
“The state government had asked for Rs 8400 crore for the railway sector. I am not talking about whether the state had asked for less or more. They have asked for a good amount. But the Centre has allocated Rs 10,012 crore against their demand,” said Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw while addressing media persons here on Friday through videoconferencing from Delhi.
He said the railways was completing on an average 53.4 km per annum between 2009-2014, but now it has completed 423 km till January during the current financial year. “This shows our speed of work and commitment to complete the old projects,” he added.
Vaishnaw said they had planned to redevelop 34 stations of Odisha, but the number has been increased to 57 stations including Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack Rourkela, Sambalpur and other small and medium stations.
One of the oldest and important projects of the state Khurda Road-Balangir (301 km) new line received the highest allocation of Rs 1599 crore. This new line project sanctioned in 1994-95 will connect western Odisha with the coastal part of the state. The ECoR has commissioned around 90.43 km line from Khurda-Road side and around 25 km from Balangir side.
The Centre has planned Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor to provide rail connectivity to tribal areas. In this budget, the Centre has allocated Rs 284 crore for Odisha under this corridor project. Last year, the Centre had sanctioned final location surveys of Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam new line (125km) and Junagarh-Nabarangpur new line (118km).
With the sanction of the final survey of Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam and Junagarh-Nabarangpur new lines, the railways made it sure that it will connect tribal areas of 411 km from Junagarh in Odisha to Bhadrachalam in Telangana.
New line projects including Jeypore-Nabarangpur (38 km) and Jeypore-Malkangiri (130km) are parts of this tribal rail corridor. This year, these two projects received an allocation of Rs 215 crore.
Another new line project Angul-Sukinda Road (98.7km) sanctioned in 1997-98 has received a budget grant of Rs 200 crore against last year’s Rs 475 crore. Work on the project is over. It is an important line for the industrial belt. Similarly, Talcher-Bimlagarh (154 km) new line received Rs 300 crore. Vizianagaram-Sambalpur third line received an allocation of Rs 920 crore.
The Centre also allocated Rs 284 crore for energy corridor and Rs 57 crore for new port connectivity in the state. Railways is undertaking 62 surveys in Odisha for 2,768 km lines. It has identified 28 stations under One Station One Product programme.
East Coast Railway zone received an allocation of Rs 11,285 crore, said the official sources.
#agencies
