BHUBANESWAR: The three proposed rail corridors in public private partnership (PPP) mode has gathered momentum, with the Odisha government initiating the process for advance land acquisition and taking feedback from stakeholders likely to invest in the projects.
The projects under consideration include the 162-km Talcher coal corridors (outer and inner), 100-km Jajpur Road-Dhamra port rail link and 50-km Tikri-Kutrumali bauxite corridor. The state government has asked officials concerned to ensure land readiness before roping in private partners to avoid delays at the implementation stage.
While the inner and outer corridor of Talcher coal belt will be developed at an estimated cost of around Rs 1,404.36 crore and Rs 3,477.67 crore respectively, the Tikri-Kutrumali line will be taken up at Rs 1,151.42 crore. The two projects, already approved by the Railway Board, are part of the dedicated freight corridors. Estimated Rs 2,987.13 crore, the Jajpur Road-Dhamra Port proposed new line will connect important religious and tourist destinations in three districts.
Sources said at a recent high- level meeting attended by the officials of the state government, Railways, SAIL, Nalco, MCL and industrial houses, it was decided that the government would start land acquisition using state funds to ensure readiness prior to on-boarding PPP partners. Representatives of Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Vedanta and Hindalco, besides Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), Dhamra Port and Gopalpur Port were present.
“Five PPP models, including joint venture (JV) and non-government railway (NGR), were explored. While the Ministry of Railways will expedite participative model and finalise the modalities for required onboarding of PPP partners, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) and IDCO have been asked to initiate the mandated process for land acquisition,” said an official, who attended the meeting.
As per the data obtained through RTI by lawyer Satyaprakash Behuria, MCL, Nalco, Singareni Collieries, NLC India, Jindal Steel and Power, Vedanta, KPCL and IRCON have expressed interest to participate in the PPP for Talcher coal corridors, while Vedanta, Hindalco and Angul Sukinda Railway Ltd have evinced interest in Tikri-Kutrumali corridor.
Similarly, the proposed rail link between Jajpur Road and Dhamra Port has evoked strong interest from port operators, exporters and mineral-based industries, including Tata Steel, JSW Infra, SAIL, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.
Meanwhile the Jajpur Road-Dhamra Railpatha Sangram Samiti has demanded immediate land acquisition for the project which is a long-pending demand of people from Jajpur, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts.
“The state government has made a provision of Rs 450 crore for land acquisition of railway projects in 2026-27 fiscal. Given the strategic importance of the Jajpur Road-Dhamra port project, we have requested to complete the land acquisition at the earliest,” said Behuria, joint convener of the Samiti.