Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Majhi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for approving six vital Railway projects in Odisha with an estimated cost of Rs 15004 crore.
Yesterday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by PM Modi approved eight projects of the Ministry of Railways with a total estimated cost of Rs 24,657 crore.
The new line proposals will provide direct connectivity and improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. The projects are in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of a New India which will make people of the region “Atmanirbhar” by way of comprehensive development in the area which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities.
The projects are the result of PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity which has been possible through integrated planning and will provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods and services.
The eight projects covering 14 districts in seven states i.e., Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana and West Bengal will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by 900 Km.
With these projects 64 New Stations will be constructed, providing enhancing connectivity to six aspirational districts (East Singhbum, BhadadriKothagudem, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Rayagada), approx. 510 villages and about 40 lakh population.
These are essential routes for the transportation of commodities such as agricultural products, fertilizer, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, bauxite, limestone, aluminium powder, granite, ballast, containers etc. The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 143 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).
The Railways being environment-friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (32.20 Crore Litres) and lower CO2 emissions (0.87 MillionTonnes) which is equivalent to plantation of 3.5 crore trees.
The new lines sanctioned in Odisha are the Gunupur-Theruvali New Line (73.62 km) in Rayagada District of Odisha for Rs 1326 cr.; Junagarh Road-Nabrangpur New Line (116.21KMs) in Kalahandi and Nawarangpur District for Rs 3274 crores; Malkangiri-Pandurangapuram (via Bhadrachalam) New Line (173.61KMs) in Malkanagiri District in Odisha, East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh and Bhadradri Kothagudem District in Telangana for Rs 4109 cr; Badampahar- Kendujhargarh New Line (82.06KMs) in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj Districts for Rs 2107 cr; Bangriposi-Gorumahisani New Line (85.60KMs) in Mayurbhanj District for Rs 2549 cr and Buramara – Chakulia New Line (59.96KMs) in Mayurbhanj in Odisha, East Singhbhumi in Jharkhand and Jhargram in West Bengal for Rs 1639 crore.
