ROURKELA: Around 17 months after a tribal protester was killed during an agitation, the new rail line project of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) remains stalled.
The laying of double rail lines is critical for RSP to facilitate faster movement of raw materials and finished products, particularly as the plant is set to more than double its capacity. Sources said in a significant development towards RSP’s expansion plan, the steel plant, with the help of the Sundargarh administration, recently reclaimed around 1,200 acres of its land at Barkani and Jharmunda after paying compensation to more than 500 affected families. The expansion project site has also been secured with permanent boundary walls.
However, RSP’s challenge over the proposed new rail line project is far from over. The plant is now in a dilemma over the alignment of the rail project following the creation of what agitators have described as a permanent memorial at Barkani.
The RSP’s plan involved restoring its defunct 4-km-long single rail track from the plant to Dumerta via Barkani and laying a parallel double-track railway line. When RSP sought to restore the defunct line and make way for the new tracks in April 2025, protesters from Barkani and nearby villages strongly opposed the move.
On April 19, 2025, a group of tribal protesters gathered in front of a backhoe loader at the Barkani site. One of the protesters, Eto Ekka (37), was killed and another injured after they came under the wheels of the vehicle. The protesters staged a demonstration with Ekka’s body for three days and took out a massive rally on Rourkela’s main road on April 22. Later, his body was buried at Barkani, with a monument-like structure erected at the site, further heightening the emotional significance of the spot among the tribal community.
Sources said Ekka’s grave was deliberately created in the middle of the proposed rail alignment. The graveyard is now within the secured area of RSP, and any attempt to disturb or shift it could trigger strong sentiments among the tribal community.
Sources said realigning the rail track would require an entirely fresh set of arrangements, including the acquisition of private and government land for a new alignment between Barkani and Dumerta.
They said RSP had already deposited around Rs 132 crore with South Eastern Railway (SER) for construction of the new double-track rail project, while the acquisition of 2.5 acres of private land between Barkani and Dumerta had also been processed.
Sources said RSP is conducting a careful assessment before taking a final decision on the alignment, as it plans to initiate the expansion proposal in 2027. The greenfield expansion project envisages increasing RSP’s capacity from 4.65 MTPA to 9.8 MTPA, at an estimated initial cost of around Rs 30,000 crore.
