Naveen seeks sizeable allocation for state in Railways budget

Business Standard, Jan 9, 2013

Railways earnings from state pegged at Rs 14,000 cr

BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar Jan 09, 2013, 00:33 IST With railway earnings from Odisha estimated to be in excess of Rs 14,000 crore in 2012-13, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikhas demanded allocation of a sizeable part of this revenue in the coming Railway budget to strengthen and expand rail infrastructure in the state. “The gross earnings from various stations in Odisha is estimated to be in excess of Rs 14,000 crore during 2012-13. I would request you to ensure allocation of a sizeable part of the revenues generated from Odisha within the state to strengthen and expand the rail infrastructure,” Patnaik wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Anticipating the rail borne traffic will surpass 300 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) in next five years as investments worth Rs 8, 85, 000 crores are at different stages of implementation and various port projects are being taken up for facilitating trade, Patnaik urged the Prime Minister to extend the eastern dedicated freight corridor (from Ludhiana to Dankuni) to Visakhapatnam for seamless movement of freight between ports and northern and central hinterlands of the country. Patnaik also demanded early execution of Bhadrachalam Road-Talcher rail link via Malkangiri, Jeypore, Lanjgarh, Sambalpur-Brahmapur rail link via Bhismagiri and declare them as National Projects. Patnaik strongly pleaded for establishment of special purpose vehicle (SPV) for dedicated rail corridors proposed at Angul -Talcher coal belt, Basundhara coal belt in Jharsuguda-Sundargarh and Banspani-Nayagarh iron ore region. In a separate letter to the Union minister of Railways Pawan Kumar Banshal, the chief minister urged him to expedite the construction of Khurda Road- Bolangir , Talcher-Bimlagarh, Lanjigarh Road and Junagarh new broad gauge rail link and to complete them in a definite timeline. He demanded urgent steps for doubling of Khurda Road-Puri link (Phase II), Cuttack – Barang, Raj Athagarh-Barang and Barang-Khurda road 3rd line and commissioning the projects within 2013-14 with provisions of enhanced budgetary allocation. In his wish list, Patnaik has also sought introduction of four new Duronto expresses, new trains between Rourkela-New Delhi, Keonjhar- Howrah, Brabil-Viskhapatnam, Bhubaneswar-Sirdi daily express, passenger service train between Barbil-Puri and Bhawanipatna-Bhubaneswar via Sambalpur and increase in the frequency of seven trains. Besides, increase in the frequencies of few trains has been proposed. These include Puri-Guwahati express, Puri-Patna Baidyanath express, Bhubaneswar-Kurla-Lokmanya Tilak express, Puri-Ahmedabad express via Sambalpur etc. As per the Comprehensive Development Plan prepared by Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur for Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the combined population of the two cities shall be 2.7 million by 2021 which shall necessitate a Mass Rapid Transit System. This would be appropriate time to commence a detailed planning for rail based city transport system in greater Bhubaneswar region, the CM stated in his letter. The state government has also pitched for expeditious steps for setting up the wagon factory at Sitalapali in Ganjam district as announced in the 2011-12 budget and establishment of railway apprentice training centre in the backward Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region for skill development and increase in employability in the area.