Historic Highest Rail Budget For Odisha, 10 Times More Than UPA Regime: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Bhubaneswar:  Odisha has been allocated a historic highest amount of Rs 9,734 crore for development of infrastructure and safety projects, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.

“This budgetary allocation is 10 times more than the annual allocation made during the Congress government,” he said.

This amount is also more than the Rs 7,600 crore that the Odisha government had sought for the development of rail infrastructure in the state.

Vaishnaw said that central allocation for the development railway sector in Odisha has been substantially increased during the Modi regime in comparison to the UPA government (2009-14), when the average annual budget allocation for railways to Odisha was Rs 838 crore per year.

“This allocation was enhanced to Rs 4,126 crore a year during 2014-19, marking an increase of 392 per cent in comparison to the average annual allocation made during the Congress period,” Vaishnaw said.

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Odisha got Rs 4,568 crore in 2019-20, which was 445 per cent more than the average annual budget allocation of 2009-14. The allocation was enhanced further to Rs 5,296 crore in the financial year 2020-21, which is again 532 per cent more than the average annual budget allocation of 2009-14.

“For 2021-22, a budget outlay of Rs 6,471 crore (original budget outlay (BE) Rs 5,921 crore and additional allotment Rs 550 crore) has been provided for railway projects in Odisha, which is 660 per cent more than the average annual budget outlay of 2009-14 (Rs 838 crore per year),” the Rail Minister said.

In 2021-22, Odisha had received 60 per cent more than the previous 2020-21 fiscal’s railway budget outlay of Rs 4,373 crore and the allocation rose to almost 76 per cent in 2022-23.

“Special focus has been given to the state in the railway budget this time,” Vaishnaw said while requesting against any politics over introduction of new trains.

On the proposed construction of a loco shed or wagon factory in Kalahandi, he informed that 50 per cent of land required for the project has been acquired. “The work to set up the factory will begin once the state government provides the remaining land,” he said.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) would be prepared after completion of the acquisition process, he added.

The Rail Minister said that land acquisition and forest clearances have been major hurdles in the execution of some big railway projects in the state and urged the state government to expedite the process.

He, however, made it clear that there is no dearth of funds for development of railway projects in the state.

Vaishnaw further informed that Vande Bharat trains will also run in Odisha. The Centre has announced to run 400 new Vande Bharat trains in this budget.