BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore have been planned for development of railway infrastructure in Odisha as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Purvodaya vision for development of the eastern region.
Briefing mediapersons, he said, projects estimated at Rs 70,000 crore have already been sanctioned and 40 projects of 4,017 km in length costing around Rs 54,434 crore, falling fully or partly in the state, are at various stages of implementation.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs chaired by the Prime Minister approved eight projects of Rs 24,657 crore from which Odisha will benefit in six, worth around Rs 15,004 crore. All the new and ongoing projects in the state will be expedited, he said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi thanked the Prime Minister and Railway Minister for approval of the six new railway lines worth over Rs 15,000 crore. In a video conferencing with Vaishnaw, he assured that the state government will make all efforts for development of railways and extend full cooperation for completion of land acquisition at the earliest.
The new lines sanctioned in the state are 73.62-km Gunupur-Therubali new line at a cost of Rs 1,326 crore, 116.21-km Junagarh Road-Nabarangpur new line (Rs 3,274 crore), 173.61-km Malkangiri-Pandurangapuram (via Bhadrachalam) new line (Rs 4,109 crore), 82.06-km Badampahar- Keonjhar new line (Rs 2,107 crore), 85.6-km Bangriposi-Gorumahisani new line (Rs 2,549 crore) and 59.96-km Buramara-Chakulia new line (Rs 1,639 crore).
“The new lines will provide direct connectivity and improve mobility providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. The projects are in line with the PM’s vision of a new India which will make people of the region Atmanirbhar by way of comprehensive development which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities,” Vaishnaw said.
The six new projects involving Odisha will directly benefit people in six districts - Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj besides extending railway connectivity in their respective regions. With these new lines, 64 new stations will be constructed in six aspirational districts providing railway link to 510 villages and about 40 lakh population.
These are essential routes for transportation of commodities like agricultural products, fertiliser, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, bauxite, limestone, aluminium, granite, ballast and containers. The capacity augmentation works will also result in additional freight traffic of 143 million tonne per annum.