BHUBANESWAR: As Odisha government sits over its ambitious project to transform Bhubaneswar railway station into a world-class multimodal hub, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has parted ways from the agreement and plans to take up the development project on its own.
The railway division is set to invest over Rs 300 crore to turn the station into an 'Iconic building' without participation of the State government.
A senior ECoR official said they have exited the MoU signed with the State government in 2019 for development of the station owing to the 'inordinate delay' in giving shape to the project. The ECoR has worked out a 'Bhubaneswar Station Integrated Re-development' plan at an investment of Rs 308 crore in the first phase.
He said the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) which has helped in preparing the plan will execute the project and hand it over to ECoR after its completion. If the plan is finalised, the project work may commence from September 15 this year, the official said.
"The Station will become an 'Iconic Building' matching global standards. The passenger area will will be air conditioned like airport terminals," he said. The railway official said passenger friendly and world-class experience will be distinguished features of the project.
Air concourse, air space over the platforms, will be provided to avoid congestion and allow departure from a higher level. There will also be separate provision of entry and exit. The construction monitoring will be done through an advanced software to fast-track the project implementation.
Besides, the railways has planned use of indigenous material in the project to promote the concept of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local. The State government in December 2016 gave approval to Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) for implementation of the multimodal hub project at an investment of Rs 910 crore. The project design was also made involving Singapore-based firm Surbana Jurong.
However, the MoU between BDA and ECoR was signed after a gap of three years, in September 2019.
The project witnessed further delay and the tender was not floated even after 24 months of the agreement leading to its cost escalation. With State government failing to make any progress, the ECoR, sources said, finally decided to exit the MoU.Funding is said to be the key issue which affected implementation of the multimodal hub project. State government officials could not be reached for comments.
Multimodal hub timeline
In 2016, BDA gets approval to implement project at an investment of Rs 910 crore
State government and ECoR sign MoU in 2019 to develop station
Due to delay from State govt, ECoR decides to exit MoU
ECoR to develop station with Rs 308 crore in first phase