Haridaspur-Paradip rail link to be completed by 2017

Officials of Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and East Coast Railways (ECoR) today said the much awaited Haridaspur-Paradip rail link would be completed by 2017 as implementation of the project has taken off the ground after few hiccups earlier this year.

“The land acquisition started recently after some disruptions in few places and bridges have been built. We hope Haridaspur-Paradip rail link would get completed in 2017,” said K K Sahu, deputy traffic manager of PPT at a seminar organised by Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) here.

Officials from ECoR also acknowledged the smooth progress of the project.

“Works for Haridaspur-Paradip rail line is going on smoothly. The land acquisition process has been satisfactory and construction of bridges is almost complete,” said Sanjaya Mahapatra, an official looking after engineering division of ECoR, who made a presentation on raw material logistics at the seminar.

According to official estimate, about 19 million tonnes of traffic is expected to move per annum on this line which passed through three districts establishing a direct link between the iron ore rich areas of the state and the Paradip Port, shortening the chargeable distance by about 335 kms, in comparison to the existing route.

Though the project was conceptualised about 20 years ago, land acquisition for the project was started in 1997. However, due to many official and political reasons, the work has not been completed till date. The project requires 1,340 acres land.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, during his meeting with Union Railway minister D V Sadananda Gowda recently, had reminded him of the need to expedite the projects sanctioned between 1994-95 and 2010-11 including Hardaspur rail link.

The rail project is being implemented by a special purpose vehicle where many private and public companies have invested. Haridaspur Paradip Railway Company Limited is the SPV with an equity base of Rs.275 crores of which the Rail Vikash Nigam Ltd ( RVNL) holds a major share of 48.43 per cent.

Besides RVNL, the three other PSUs, which have signed the agreement to develop the project jointly. are Paradip Port Trust, Steel Authority of India Limited(SAIL) and the Industrial Development Corporation Limited(IDCOL) of Odisha.

Out of five private partners- Posco-India, Jindal Steel Private Limited, Essel Mining and Industries Limited, Rungta Mines Limited and MSPL- which had signed the shareholders agreement, only Posco has withdrawn its stake from the project. The project was earlier targeted to be completed by 2008.