BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal has invited Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to the signing of MoU for upgradation of facilities and amenities at Bhubaneswar station. “It is proposed that the MoU between the Railways and the State Government for construction of Bhubaneswar railway station will be signed jointly at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi at 4 pm on May 23,” the letter from Goyal to the CM read.
The Railways Minister stated that the upgradation of the railway station has been sanctioned in 2018-19 Budget which will complement the station building being constructed in partnership with the State Government.As per the budgetary allocation, there will be another platform and two more new tracks to the existing station which has six platforms and eight lines. The new platform and lines will be constructed at a cost of `70 crore.
The Railways will sign the MoU with the State as Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) is all set to develop a multi-modal hub. The MoU initially planned to be signed at Bhubaneswar in January was deferred as Khurda Road divisional railway manager Brij Mohan Agarwal fell ill.Meanwhile, the Railway Board has directed the General Manager of East Coast Railway (ECoR) to coordinate with the State Government regarding signing of MoU for redevelopment of the railway station in the Capital.
Once the MoU is signed, there will be complete overhauling of the railway station, which will get an iconic building. The existing station building will be demolished and an aesthetically designed multi-storey structure having the station at the ground floor will come up in its place.Last month, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi had sent a letter to Railway Board Chairman Aswani Lohani urging him to immediately finalise the date for signing of MoU.