With Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presenting his second Budget on Thursday, Odisha could see a target of commissioning around 300 km network expansion and development in the coming fiscal year 2016-17.
Commissioning for works of around 50km new lines in State could be targeted in this Rail Budget. Besides, the State could also see allocations for some workshop projects sans the Sithapalli and Kalahandi projects whose operationalisation status hinges on
increased coach demand from the Railways.
What looks apparent is except Jaleswar - Digha (41km) new line project, other 6 - 7 priority new lines projects could see higher allocation, indicated highly placed sources in the East Coast Railways (EcoR) here. Sources indicated that since land records in some stretches of the 41km route are not available with the State Government, the ECoR is unlikely to go for raised budgetary allocation as current buzzword in railways is thrust on doable projects only.
As Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently in his letter to the Railways Minister laid stress on five priority projects for Odisha like Khurda - Balangir, Paradip - Haridaspur, Angul - Sukinda, Talcher - Bimalagarh and Jaleswar - Digha, the State could see higher allocation in four of such projects, courtesy a proper financial arrangement in place via MoUs and SPVs. Moreover, their early completion has ramifications on national economy and Railways’ economy plans, observed sources.
The ECoR sources further observed that from the network development plan this budget has, districts like Koraput, Cuttack, Angul and Dhenkanal were to benefit most. Allocation could also be made for Jeypore - Nabarangpur new line project, sources indicated. More budgetary grants possible for new lines projects like lanjigarh road - Junagarh, sources hinted.
According to ECoR information officer, the Railways have put the thrust on seven new line projects in State that could add a whopping 906km length rail network by 2022 and add another around 1,354km via 16 doubling or gauge conversion projects. As of now, Odisha has around 29 per cent of rail route length of the total route length in the country, data revealed.
However, many State rail projects (detailed in table) could fail to see the light of day on Thursday as ECoR is fund starved since they require around `10, 000 crore.