The feasibility study for the proposed Metro Train Project for Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Jatni and Puri has not been done yet as the appointment of a consultant for the same is still under government consideration, said Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena on Tuesday.
Replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati in the Odisha Assembly, Jena said, “No feasibility study has been undertaken for the project so far as the State government has not finalised a consultant till now.”
Apart from that, Bahinipati also sought to know whether there is any proposal to connect towns of Koraput district with Tram service, to which Jena replied in the negative.
Earlier in March this year, Jena had said in the Assembly that the Odisha government does not have any proposal to carry out a metro rail project between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar till 2041 due to lack of feasibility.
Replying to a query by Jatani MLA (Congress) Suresh Routray, the Minister had said that the State government had not proposed the Centre for the metro rail project between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack following an unsuitable report on feasibility study.
The Minister had further added that a Hyderabad-based company- M/s Balaji Railroad Systems Ltd (BARSYL) had been entrusted with the task of survey for the project. The company had carried out the survey and found no feasibility for the project.
“We had asked the company to re-conduct the study by extending the project limits up to Khordha-Jatani. In its report, the company had stated 'a full-scale metro rail project is not feasible till 2041’. In view of the report, we had not proposed the Centre for the project,” Jena had informed the House in March 2021.