New Delhi: As many as 37 railway projects worth Rs 55,219 crore are at different stages of planning, approval and execution in Odisha, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said here on Wednesday.
Giving a written reply to Lok Sabha Member Pratap Sarangi, the Union Minister said, “As on 01.04.2021, 37 railway projects (11 new line projects, 1 Gauge conversion and 25 Doubling) costing Rs 55,219 crore for 4,643 km length, falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha are at different stages of planning/approval/execution.”
Odisha is covered by East Coast Railway, South Eastern Railway and South East Central Railway.
Railway has substantially increased budget allocations for infrastructure projects & safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha, he said.
Average annual budget allocation for infrastructure projects & safety works, falling fully/partly in the State, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to Rs 4,126 crore per year from Rs 838 crore per year (during 2009-14).
Thus, the average budget allocation during 2014-19 is 392 per cent more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14 (Rs 838 crore/year), Mr.Vaishnaw said.
He further informed that these allocations have been enhanced to Rs 4,568 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 5,296 crore in 2020- 21 which are 445 per cent and 532 per cent more than the average allocation of 2009- 14 (Rs 838 crore/year) respectively.
Total allocation of budget has further been enhanced to Rs 5,921 crore in 2021-22, which is the highest ever budget allocation for the State of Odisha and 607 per cent more than the average annual budget allocation of 2009-14 (Rs 838 crore/year), the Railways Minister said.
Giving details about physical progress, he said there has been a substantial increase in the rate of commissioning since 2014. During 2009-14, 267 km (56 km of New line, 83 km of gauge conversion and 128 km of doubling projects), falling fully/partly in the State, were commissioned at an average rate of 53.40 km per year.
During 2014-21, 1031 km (251 km of new line and 780 km of doubling projects), falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha, have been commissioned at an average rate of 147.29 km per year, which is 176 per cent more than average annual commissioning achieved during 2009-14.
Many places of pilgrimage, historical and tourist importance in the state of Odisha like Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Baripada, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Behrampur, Rayagada and Jeypore are already connected via Railway network.
Further, 11 new line projects are in different stages of planning/approval/execution falling party/fully in the State which will also provide connectivity to pilgrimage, historical and tourist places en-route.
On a query of Sarangi, he replied that at present, there is no proposal to operate passenger trains to Nilgiri (Dahaimara-Gopinathpur) as Balasore-Nilgiri section is not fit for passenger traffic and only fit for freight traffic.