
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has received an allocation of Rs 10,599 crore in the railway budget for 2025-26, marking an increase of Rs 13 crore from the provision of Rs 10,586 crore for the state last year.
Announcing this at a media conference in New Delhi on Monday, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said this year’s allocation is a 12.5-fold increase from the average provision of Rs 838 crore in the railway budget for Odisha during the 2009-2014 period.
Describing the railway budget as historic for Odisha, Vaishnaw said, there will be record investment and growth in railway infrastructure in the state.
Stating that the budget includes Rs 2,379 crore for development of 59 stations across Odisha, including key hubs like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, and Rourkela, Vaishnaw said currently 48 new track projects are underway with a total of 4,784 km, which are being developed at an investment of Rs 73,723 crore.
The minister said Odisha has received more than Rs 10,000 crore annually for railway development over the past three years, contributing to a total investment of Rs 78,000 crore in the state in the last 10 years of NDA government. An additional Rs 20,000 crore worth of projects have also been sanctioned, he added.
Vaishnaw said the multi-tracking project from Kolkata to Chennai is progressing rapidly and significant work has been completed between Kolkata and Bhadrak. The third-line work is already underway and the fourth line will be processed in the near future.
He said that between 2014-2025, over 2,046 km of new tracks have been constructed in the state, surpassing Malaysia’s entire rail network in scale. Odisha has also achieved 100 per cent electrification with 1,516 km of track electrified, he said.
The Railway minister said the Kavach safety system has been sanctioned for 1,898 km of rail lines in the state with ongoing work and tendering for 645 km. A total of 1,000 locomotives will be integrated with the system to enhance safety.
Six Vande Bharat trains now run across Odisha, connecting 17 districts with 25 unique stoppages, he said.