By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: The Centre has made historic highest allocation of Rs 9,734 crore for railway infrastructure and safety projects in Odisha in the 2022-23 railway budget which is 10 times more than the annual provision made by the UPA government when it was in power at the Centre, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Stating that the average annual allocation during the UPA regime between 2009 and 2014 for railway sector development in Odisha was only Rs 838 crore, the Minister said this was increased to Rs 4,126 crore per annum on an average during 2014-2019, a hike of 392 per cent.Odisha was allocated Rs 4,568 crore in 2019-20, which was 445 per cent more than the average annual budget provision during the UPA regime. This was further increased to Rs 5,296 crore in 2020-21.
Vaishnaw said during 2021-22, a budget outlay of Rs 6,471 crore, original budget estimate of Rs 5,921 crore and an additional Rs 500 crore was given to Odisha for railway projects. Stating that special focus has been given to Odisha in the railway budget this time, he said ‘Vande Mataram’ trains will also be introduced in the State. The Centre has announced 400 new ‘Vande Mataram’ trains in the budget.
Besides, the Minister said 50 per cent land has been acquired for the wagon factory in Kalahandi. “The work on the factory will begin once the State government provides the remaining land,” he said and added the detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared after completion of the acquisition process.
Replying to a question on slow progress of some big railway projects in the State, Vaishnaw said the major hurdles for the projects are land acquisition and forest clearance.Urging the Odisha government to expedite the land acquisition process, he made it clear that there is no dearth of funds for development of railway projects in the State.
However, Minister for Commerce and Transport Padmanabha Behera said the allocation for Odisha in the 2022-23 railway budget has not been as expected. He said the provision for Odisha also has State share. There are several railway projects in which the State government has provided land free and shared 50 per cent of the project cost, the Minister said.
