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| Indian Railways to boost facilities for Paradeep |
| BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar Jan 05, 2009, 00:38 IST |
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The Indian Railways has planned major infrastructure facilities like freight nodal points, container park and a coaching complex to cater to the proposed Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in Paradeep.
Addressing the media after flagging off the Bhubaneswar-Paradeep Intercity express, KC Jena, chairman, Railway Board, said, “Paradeep is poised to emerge as one of the major industrial hubs in Orissa and it is also the site for the proposed PCPIR in the state. A master plan is being prepared for the Paradeep region and according to this plan, the Railways will set up infrastructure facilities like freight nodal points, container park and a coaching complex.”
Apart from the planned infrastructure facilities, he said that the Railways is also committed to boost connectivity in the Paradeep region which includes the 82-km Paradeep-Haridaspur broad gauge line, being taken up at an investment of Rs 577.78 crore. East Coast Railway (ECoR) has acquired 1,146 acres of private land out of the total of 1,653 acres of land required for the project. This project being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is scheduled for completion by March 2011.
“The Indian Railways is investing Rs 75,000 crore on upgradation of infrastructure which includes the amount to be spent on the two dedicated freight corridors. Rail India Technical and Economic Services (Rites) was engaged to study the viability of other corridors like Kolkata-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai and Kolkata-Chennai and the initial reports have been very promising”, he informed.
On the 290-km Khurda Road-Bolangir project, Jena said, “Work is already in progress for the first 36 km stretch of the project and the fund for the second phase of the project is likely to be sanctioned in this year’s railway budget.” He admitted that the project had suffered delay due to land acquisition problems and a fast track committee for railway projects formed under the chairmanship of the Orissa Chief Secretary was making efforts to expedite the process of land acquisition.
The Khurda Road-Bolangir project was sanctioned in 1994-95 and the project entails an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore out of which Rs 105 crore has been sanctioned for the first 36-km stretch of the project. Land acquisition for the first 36-km of the project has already been completed except for a patch of private land.
Jena pointed out that the overall outlay for the various railway projects in Orissa stood at Rs 1,049 crore in 2008-09, compared to Rs 764 crore in the previous fiscal and the sanctioned figure excludes the projects being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.
He further said that five railway stations in Orissa have been identified for modernisation including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Rourkela and Sambalpur and the modernisation plan for the Cuttack railway station is scheduled for completion by January 15 his year.
On the proposed world class station in Bhubaneswar, Jena said, “The world class station will be set up on the public-private partnership mode with cooperation from China Railways. The funding and other requirements for the world class station can be known after the detailed project report is prepared.”
The Railway Board chairman indicated that two trains including the Ranchi-Varanasi express and the Visakhapatnam express would be extended up to Sambalpur by March next year and the frequency of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi express will also be raised.
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