Odisha spends Rs 54 cr on rail infra projects

This is first time that govt pumping money on rail infrastructure projects

The Odisha government has spent Rs 54 crore on two rail link projects and a common coal corridor planned for the Angul-Talcher-Chhendipada belt.

This is for the first time that the government is pumping money on rail infrastructure projects. In the Budget for 2013-14, the state government had earmarked Rs 100 crore for railway infrastructure projects.

"So far, we have spent Rs 21.5 crore on the Angul-Sukinda rail link project, Rs 22.5 crore on the Paradeep-Haridaspur rail line and Rs 10 crore on the proposed Angul-Chhendipada common coal corridor. The residual budgetary funds will be spent before the end of March”, said a state government official.

The Angul-Sukinda rail link project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 1100 crore. Angul-Duburi-Sukinda Special Railway, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been formed to implement the project.

In the SPV, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) holds 45% stake while Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) and Bhushan Steel & Power Ltd have 25% and 20% equity respectively.

Construction work on the Angul-Duburi-Sukinda Road rail link project, projected as the lifeline of the fast growing industrial belt, was expected to take off by end of April 2013. But commencement of work on the project was delayed due to pending land acquisition. Two PSUs of the state government- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) will hold nine% and one% stake respectively in the SPV.

The project needs 205 acres of private land, 220 acres of government land and 251 acres of forest land. The project is being implemented on the public private partnership (PPP) mode.

This rail project is set to handle traffic of 70.28 million tonne and will serve industries like Bhushan Steel, Uttam Galva Steel, Jindal Stainless Ltd, Visa Industries, Tata Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy and Rungta Mines.

The Rs 1000-crore Paradeep-Hardisapur rail link project has been delayed as the state government is yet to submit application for Stage-I forest clearance to the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF).

The common corridor will support 10 blocks operating in the Talcher coalfields under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). It is expected to handle coal traffic in excess of 100 million tonne every year. The proposed corridor will be connected to rail heads at three locations- Jharpada, Angul and Budhapanka.