Orissa urges Railways to grant Rs 1,220 cr for six projects

With the additional rail borne traffic in Orissa projected in excess of 350 million tonne per annum in the next five years, the state government has requested the Ministry of Railways to allocate Rs 1,220 crore in the Rail Budget for 2012-13 for six broad gauge projects currently under execution.

These projects include Paradeep-Haridaspur (82 km), Khurda Road-Bolangir (289 km), Talcher-Bimlagarh (154 km), Angul-Duburi-Sukinda Road (90 km), Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh (56 km) and Jaleswar-Digha (41 km).

The state's rail traffic requirement is set to go up significantly as it has received proposals for adding over 80 mtpa of steel, eight mtpa of alumina, 15 mtpa capacity in petroleum refining, 30 mtpa in cement manufacturing and 47,000 MW of power generation.

The state government has also signed concession agreements for development of all-weather deep sea ports at Dhamara, Gopalpur, Subarnarekha mouth and Astaranga.

The state has proposed to develop two dedicated rail corridors- the 383-km Meramandali-Angul-Talcher-Chhendipada corridor and the 110-km Nayagarh-Keonjhar corridor. The cost of the Meramandali-Angul-Talcher-Chhendipada corridor is estimated at Rs 2200 crore with its total anticipated traffic being 113 mtpa. This corridor is set to benefit 57 industries.

The Nayagarh-Keonjhar corridor is expected to benefit 50-60 industries.

The state government has requested the Ministry of Railways to revise the existing policy for Rail Connectivity to Coal and Iron Ore mines.

On introduction of new trains, the state has called for starting 17 new express and passenger trains including five Duronto trains besides raising frequency of 12 trains and extending five other trains.

It has also pointed out that the proposals to upgrade 17 stations as Adarsh stations and develop eight multi-functional complexes are yet to be grounded even though announcements were made in the last two Railway Budgets.

Since 16 doubling projects are under execution, adequate funds are to be provided and steps are to be taken for their early completion. The state has also proposed electrification of Rayagada-Damanjodi, Angul-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda and Haridaspur-Paradeep sections.

Among the new lines which the state government has urged the Ministry of Railways to sanction are Malkangiri-Jeypore-Talcher-Bimlagarh, Bargarh-Nuapada (120 km), Talcher-Gopalpur (245 km), Puri-konark (35 km), Rupsa-Bangriposi to Gorumahisani (35 km), Badampahar-Keonjhar (70 km), Berhampur-Phulbani (169.8 km) and Khurda Road-Rajathgarh (59 km) bypassing Bhubaneswar.

Further, the state government has demanded that the dedicated eastern freight corridor be extended up to Berhampur via Haridaspur.

It has proposed to introduce MEMU (mainline electrical multiple units) services in Balasore-Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road-Puri, Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road-Berhampur, Bhubaneswar-Dhenkanal-Angul, Cuttack-Paradeep and Rourkela-Rajgangpur-Jharsuguda sections.

The state has stressed on the development of the proposed world class station for Bhubaneswar at Barang on the outskirts of the city.