Railways ministry, Odisha to float company

The Ministry of Railways and the Odisha government will float a company that will invest on rail projects in the state, said Railways minister Suresh Prabhu.

The Odisha government and Railways will set up a company with the contribution of both. The company will invest in the state and the profit earned from it will also be invested back to the state, said Prabhu.

The Union minister was in the state to inaugurate the train from Begunia to Khurda. The train was flagged off from the Begunia railway station. The 32-km Khurda-Begunia stretch is part of the inordinately delayed Khurda Road-Bolangir 289 km rail project which was sanctioned in 1994-95.

The decision to form a company was taken after chief minister Naveen Patnaiks visit to New Delhi, he added.

Recently, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Coal and the state government for formation of a joint venture (JV) to undertake project development, financing and implementation of identified projects for evacuation of coal through rail.

The Union minister said, Rs 195 crore has been allocated (in 2015-16 Union Budget) for the Khurda Road Bolangir project.

Efforts are being made to complete the work till Raj Sunakhala by September. We are also working for the Angul-Sukinda line, Haridaspur-Paradip line and Talcher-Paradip-Bimlagarh, the Union minister said.

Prabhu also announced the establishment of a skill development centre at Begunia.

Stressing on importance of the Khurda Bolangir line project, Chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, The state government is offering all support to take the project forward including sharing of 50 per cent cost of the project and land free of cost between Daspalla and Bolangir. I am hopeful that the Railway minister will consider the project as top priority and the complete it in a definite time schedule.

Mentioning that the seven districts of Odisha have no railway line, Patnaik urged the Union minister to connect Kendrapada, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Boudh , Malkangiri, Nabarangapur and Kandhamal with the rail network. The state government will propose to the Centre for sanctioning two rail projects, Jeypore-Nabarangpur and Jeypore-Malkangiri.