Senior Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja on Friday expressed strong resentment over decreasing allocation in the Union Budget for the Khurda-Balangir railway project, which has not been completed for many years now.
“When the Khurda-Balangir railway project was first approved, the project cost was Rs 700 crore only. The cost of the project had been estimated at Rs 3,225 crore in 2018-19. Now, it would cross Rs 4,000 crore mark. While the project cost is increasing every passing year, the Union Government is allocating funds at a decreasing rate. The State Government, which signed an MoU to bear the project cost at 50:50, is also not serious about the project,” alleged Saluja.
He ridiculed that the State Government has not opposed the Union Government for allocating Rs 5,993 crore for railway projects in Odisha while the Railways is earning a huge amount of profit from the State.
Stating that 131-km rail line has been completed in 19 years and 198-km rail line is yet to be done, Saluja demanded that allocation for the project be raised from Rs 350 to Rs 3,500 crore in this year’s Union Budget and the project be completed at the earliest.