Previously, the Odisha government had requested Rs 7,600 crore from the Central Budget for the development of railway infrastructure in the state.
The state of Odisha has received an allocation of around Rs 9,734 crore in the Union Budget 2022-23, which is so far the highest budgetary provision made and more than the state’s demands for Indian Railways’ infrastructure as well as safety-related projects in this Union budget, according to a senior official.
Though the allocation figure has not been officially released by Indian Railways due to the model code of conduct for assembly elections in five states, an official said the budget allocation for Odisha this fiscal year is Rs 2,738.5 crore higher than the allocation last year (Rs 6,995.58 crore). According to a PTI report, this included both state share and extra-budgetary resources (EBR) such as loans.
Previously, the Odisha government had requested Rs 7,600 crore from the Central Budget for the development of railway infrastructure in the state. According to him, the budget allocation covers the entire East Coast Railway Zone as well as portions of the South Eastern Railway Zone and the South East Central Railway Zone within Odisha’s jurisdiction. East Coast Railway has been allocated Rs 8,415.96 crore of the total allocation for the state, while South Eastern Railway and South East Central Railway have been allocated Rs 1,287 and Rs 31.04 crore for infrastructure projects and safety-related work, respectively.
The budget includes Rs 1,806.10 crore for laying new rail tracks and Rs 3,643.86 crore for doubling the lines for the East Coast Railway. According to the report, the highest allocation of Rs 891.55 crore in the budget has been made for the 289-kilometer-long Khurda Road-Balangir rail line, followed by allocations of Rs 475 crore for Angul-Sukinda, Rs 300 crore for Bansapani-Daitari-Tamaka-Jakhapura, Rs 250 crore for Talcher-Bimlagarh, Rs 172.5 crore for Sambalpur-Talcher, and allocation, In addition, the central government has set aside Rs 85 crore for the Haridarpur-Paradip rail line, Rs 79.5 crore for the Sambalpur-Titlagarh railway line, Rs 81 crore for the Jeypore-Nabarangpur line, Rs 13.8 crore for the Jeypore-Malkangiri line, and Rs 10 crore for the Naupada-Gunpur-Therubali railway line.
Prasanta Patnaik