Naveen Wants Allocation Of Rs 6500 Cr For Odisha In Railway Budget

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday wrote to Union
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal seeking allocation of Rs 6,500 for
Odisha in the upcoming railway budget 2018-19.

The Chief Minister, in his letter, said, “As a large and fast-growing
state with rising aspirations, Odisha has certain specific proposals
and suggestions on the railways, which I am sure you would be able to
consider positively. Odisha has progressed rapidly in the past decade
and consequently, the state’s GDP growth rate is almost 20 percent
higher than the growth rate of national GDP. My state is steadily evolving
to be a major industrial and mineral hub as well as the eastern
gateway to the nation, owing to the multiple functional ports.
Importance of world-class rail infrastructure is a pre-requisite for
rapid development as well as to aid the growth of the economy. I would
like to highlight that Odisha generates an annual revenue for Indian
railways in excess of Rs 15,000 crores and yet the average route
length, with a rail density (16.0) in the state is much less than the
national average (20.0), and even considerably lower in comparison to
adjoining states (West Bengal: 43.4 and Jharkhand: 24.3).”

Reiterating his government’s commitment to extend all help to the
Ministry of Railways for implementation of railway projects in the
state, the CM said, “In order to expedite augmentation of the rail
infrastructure in the state, Government of Odisha has taken several
initiatives such as to form Joint Ventures/Special Purpose Vehicles
(SPV) jointly with Railway Ministry and other Ministries to undertake
new rail lines/corridors, directly financing construction besides
offering land free for the creation of new railway projects. Notably, the
state government has also undertaken policy level changes by exempting
registration fees and stamp duty on all government land for all
railway projects in the state. In order to take the partnership
forward with Indian Railways, Government of Odisha has formed a JV
company with the Ministry of Railways (Odisha Rail Infrastructure
Development Limited) with an authorized capital of Rs 1 crore, wherein
the Government of Odisha will have a shareholding ratio of 51 percent. The
state has also contributed majority equity in two ongoing railway SPV
projects namely, Angul Sukinda Railway Limited and Haridaspur Paradip
Railway Company Limited.”

“It may be mentioned here that despite few of the earlier state
proposals having been sanctioned by Ministry of Railways in the
preceding budgets, works towards commissioning of these projects are
languishing. It is important to re-prioritize and ensure seamless work
execution in the upcoming period for the projects which will vastly
benefit socio-economic growth such as Khurda
Road-Balangir-Talcher-Bimalagarh, Jeypore-Nabarangpur and Jeypore
Malkangiri”, the CM added in the letter.

The CM further stated that he has proposed a package of Rs 6, 500
crore on railways for Odisha for the forthcoming budget 2018-19 to
help both Odisha and Indian Railways in furthering their goals  of
economic and social justice as it includes detailed proposals for the
ongoing projects, sanctioning of new lines, station modernization,
introduction of new trains, extension of existing trains, improved
passenger amenities at stations, onboard services, establishment of
rail-based industries, multi-modal logistics parks, etc.

The state government has demarcated rail connectivity as a priority
area with focus specifically on the regions that have not got the
opportunity to grow with rail connectivity. Some of the most important
lines in this regard are Brahmapur-Phulbani-Sambalpur, Bargarh-Nuapada
via Padampur, Bhadranchalam-Malkangiri, Talcher-Gopalpur,
Gopalpur-Singapur Road New B.G. line (via Padampur, Ramanguda,
Bankili) and Lanjigarh-Talcher. These proposed rail links traverse
mainly through unconnected and backward districts which are full of
natural resources. These links will also be facilitating mineral
movement by establishing linkage with southern Odisha as well as
provide shorter connectivity to Gopalpur Port. I request you to
sanction these important lines in the forthcoming budget, which can
bring prosperity along with connectivity to the needy areas, Naveen
said, adding that to bear 50 percent of construction and land cost for
a line connecting Puri-Konark, the most important tourist section of
the state and a popular international destination.