The State Government has accorded administrative approval for acquisition of 834.680 acres for the proposed Rs 8,000-crore common infrastructure corridor in the Talcher coalfield area in Angul district.
The proposed corridor would help different industries in the Angul-Talcher belt as many of them are facing problems to set up their own rail lines due to opposition by the local people.
Giving its nod for land acquisition, the Industries Department said the land would be acquired from 16 villages under Chhendipada tehsil of the district.In a letter to the State-run Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), the department said 834.680 acres are required for the proposed corridor.
While the private lands demarcated for the purpose are 558.306 acres, a total 276.374 acres of Government lands would be alienated for construction of the 143 km-long corridor with a capacity to handle coal in excess of 100 MT per annum. The corridor, when completed, would benefit about 50 industries in the steel, aluminium and power sectors, official sources said.
To begin with, the corridor was earlier proposed to be developed as a 50:50 joint venture between the IDCO and another State-owned undertaking, Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). However, the IDCO has decided to develop the corridor alone after the OMC expressed unwillingness to implement the project, they said. The corridor would support 10 blocks operating in the Talcher coalfields under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields ltd.
The corridor would be connected to rail heads at Jharpada, Angul and Budhapanka and have multiple entry and exit points and no surface crossing. Flyovers have been proposed to avoid cross movements at junction stations.