Naveen disappointed with Rail Budget

Odisha has not been able to get even one-third of its demand from the railway ministry. In fact the current provision of Rs 714 crore against a demand of Rs 2345 crore was the lowest in the last two years. In 2010-2011, the state had received Rs 841.64 crore against its demand of Rs 1805 crore. Likewise, in 2011-2012, it had received Rs 1361.67 crore while it had demanded Rs. 2085 crore.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik in his reaction said,"I am extremely disappointed with the railway budget". Regarding the allocation for the state, Naveen said,"This is grossly insufficient considering the requirement of ongoing projects in the state." Naveen rued the fact the current provision of Rs 714 croe was half of "What we have got in the last year`s budget." Expressing his disappointment over the railway budget chief minister Naveen said, "We requested to introduce 19 numbers of express trains to important against which only 6 numbers of new trains have been sanctioned."

However, the railway minister Dinesh Trivedi has announced that a new wagon factory would be established at Seetalapalli in Ganjam district. The ministry has sanctioned eight new trains for the state which include two passenger trains while six more trains would pass through the state. The new trains are: Puri-Bikaner Express Via Sambalpur(Weekly), Bhubaneswar-Bhawanipatna Link Express Via Vijayanagaram, Puri-Yashoyantpur Garib Rath(Weekly), Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express(Weekly), Barbil-Chakradharpur Intercity Express, Puri-Chennai Express(Weekly), Gunpur-Palasa Passenger Via Parlakhemundi and Baripada-Bangriposi DMU.