National Planning Group Recommends 2 Rly Projects Under Gati Shakti In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The National Planning Group (NPG) has recommended 3 railway projects including 2 in Odisha and 3 toad transport and highway projects with total cost of Rs 28,875.16 crore.

Speaking at the 53rd MPG meeting held on Wednesday, Special Secretary, Logistics, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Sumita Dawra said keeping the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Area Development Approach in view, these projects would provide multimodal connectivity for socio-economic development and decongest the existing city and rail infrastructure. These projects are of critical importance for future capacity augmentation and will enhance logistics efficiency of the project region.

These projects are expected to improve the connectivity to various villages and key industrial business hubs by bypassing congested and highly populated areas and reduce travel time. The proposed projects are also expected to expand business avenues and generate employment opportunities for local people.

The NPG assessed the railway project, Barbil-Nayagarh-Barsuan and Bhadrasahi- Kiriburu, with a cost of Rs 12,532.87 crore. It would connect the existing stations Barbil, Barsuan and Kiriburu of South Eastern Railway and Nayagarh of East Coast Railway on Gati Shakti principles of Area Development Approach. This railway alignment connects the major mines of Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts of Odisha and Paschimi Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

The NPG also assessed the proposed Malkangiri to Bhadrachalam railway line panning across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with a cost of Rs 3591.76 crore. This will open a new corridor connecting South Central Railway (Pandurangapuram) to East Coast Railway (Junagarh). It is also expected to reduce the distance between deep sea ports of Andhra Pradesh to mines and industries in southern Odisha.

Besides, the NPG recommended a proposed line connecting Vaibhavwadi- Kolhapur worth Rs 3411.17 crore in Maharashtra. The new line is expected to cater thermal coal traffic to various Thermal Power plants in the region especially in Maharashtra and Karnataka apart from other industries.

Similarly, the road project Hassan–Raichur Economic Corridor 20 (EC20) of MoRTH, with a total cost of Rs 6,274.75 crore, under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, six-laning from Gonde to Pimpri-Sado section of NH-848 worth Rs 936.03 crore and four-laning of Satai Ghat to Kaimaha worth Rs 2,128.58 crore were recommended by the NPG.

The members from Ministries of Road Transport and Highways, Civil Aviation, Railways, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Defence, Power and NITI Aayog participated in the meeting.