With an Odisha man helming the Railways for the first time since independence, the stamp of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav is visible all the way in the 2022-23 Railway Budget. The State saw a historic allocation of Rs 9734 crore in the budget.
The record allocation has trumped the ruling BJD's rail budget demand of Rs 7500 cr for the year 2022-23. The Railway Budget has dwarfed the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government's expectation.
As per the Pink Book 2022-23 released today, a whopping over Rs 1800 cr have been allocated for the new line projects in the State. In 2021-22, the allocation had been Rs 1553 cr. The new line project of Sambalpur -Gopalpur via Phulbani, which was announced in the 2016-17 budget, has been included in the 2022-23 Pink Book. As the project has been included in this year's budget, only a token allocation has been made in this year's budget.
Moreover, a sum of Rs 3643.86 cr has been earmarked for doubling projects in the State.
The much delayed Khurda road – Balangir rail line alone has grabbed the lion’s share (over 49 per cent of the total allocation). Besides, the rail budget's emphasis on improving rail infra in the State has been to the fore as a whopping Rs 1287 cr has been allocated for the works falling in SER (southeastern railway) and SECR (south-east central railway).
Similarly, sticking to the 'Gati Shakt', and to ensure hassle-free movement of traffic and reduce train accidents, the budget has earmarked a high of Rs 397 cr for Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges in the State. In order to provide better passenger amenities, the budget has provisioned a sum of Rs 304 cr for Odisha.
Here Are The Detailed Allocation Project Wise
Khorda Road-Bolangir new line-Rs 891.12crore
Angul-Sukinda Road new line-Rs 475crore
Haridaspur-Paradip new line-Rs 85crore
Talcher-Bimlagarh new line-Rs250crore
Jeypore-Malkangiri new line-Rs13.8crore
Jeypore-Nabarangpur new line-Rs81crore
Nuapada-Gunpur-Therubali railway line-Rs10crore
Khorda-Barang third railway line-Rs164crore
Sambalpur-Titlagarh railway line-Rs79.5crore
Bansapani-Daitari-Tamka-Jakhpura railway line-Rs300croe
Sambalpur-Talcher railway line-Rs172.5crore
Bhadrak-Nirgundi third railway line-Rs351crore