Odisha seeks Rs 5,000 cr in Rail Budget

Allocation sought keeping in view state's enormous contribution to railway's earnings

A committee of Odisha legislative assembly today called on railway minister Suresh Prabhu and presented the state's pre-Budget memorandum, seeking an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for the state in the ensuing Rail Budget.

"In the ensuing Budget, Odisha has demanded an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore. Our top priority is on ongoing projects and also projects in the KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) areas," said Niranjan Pujari, chairman of the assembly committee and speaker, Odisha assembly.

The allocation has been sought keeping in view the state's enormous contribution to Railways' earnings.

The railway route length and density in Odisha is much below national average as also substantially lower than that in neighbouring states. In contrast, gross earnings from various stations in the state is estimated to be in excess of Rs 14,000 crore during 2014-15.

A large part of Odisha, especially the backward regions have remained untouched by the Railways. The lack of infrastructure has been one of the major reasons which has impeded the socio-economic growth of this region.

Though the central government have initiated many ambitious projects like dedicated freight corridor aligned with mega industrial hubs, national road expressways and high speed train projects, it has completely bypassed Odisha although some of the country's largest investment in the steel, aluminium and power sectors are coming up in the state.

However, the Odisha government has been extending all support for implementation of rail projects- the state government has signed two MoUs (memorandum of understanding) with Railways for setting up two special purpose vehicles (SPVs)- one for taking up new rail projects in the state and another for construction of rail infrastructure jointly with Coal ministry for coal evacuation.