The Government of Odisha has signed two MoUs with the Ministry of Railways to provide land free of cost for two ongoing railway line projects, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question of BJP MP Basanta Panda, the Minister said the State Government has signed the MoUs to provide land for the Khurda Road-Bolangir (289 km) and Jeypore-Nabarangpur (38 km) line projects.
About the Khurda Road-Bolangir project, Vaishnaw said its anticipated cost is Rs 3,792 crore. The State Government has to provide land free of cost and share 50% cost of the project from km 112 to km 289 from Khurda Road.
An expenditure of Rs 1,497 crore has been incurred on the project up to March 2021 and an outlay of Rs 1,000.50 crore has been provided in the financial year 2021-22.
So far, 92 km length Khurda Road to Mahipur (77 km) and Bolangir to Bichupalli (15 km) of the project have been commissioned. Work has been taken up in Mahipur-Nuagaon-Buguda (45 km), Purunakatak-Boudh-Sonepur (65 km) and Sonepur-Jahrtarbha-Bichupalli (37 km).
The one of the biggest railway projects in Odisha involves acquisition of 6,162 acre of land and diversion of 1,844 acre of forestland, out of which 5,333 acre land has been acquired and diversion of 170 acre forestland has been completed.
Further, the State Government has to acquire 829 acre land and diversion of 1.674 acre forestland.
About the Jeypore-Nabarangpur project, he said the project was included in Budget 2016-17 and it was sanctioned on cost-sharing basis with the State Government. The State Government has to provide land free of cost and share 50% construction cost.
The latest cost of the project is Rs 748 crore. An outlay of Rs 15.70 crore has been provided in the Budget 2021-22.
The project involves acquisition of 772.19 acre of private land, 87.77-acre Government land and 9.70-acre forestland diversion. Land acquisition work has been taken up, Vaishnaw