While formulating a Railway Master Plan for the state, Odisha government today asked the Centre to allocate a sizeable fund for the development of railway infrastructure in the mineral rich region.
"Kindly ensure allocation of a sizeable part of the revenue generated from Odisha within the state itself for strengthening and expanding rail infrastructure," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Stating that the gross earnings from various stations in Odisha are estimated to be in excess of Rs 14,000 crore during 2013-14, Patnaik regretted that railway route length and rail density in the state was below the national average as also substantially lower than that in neighbouring states.
As Odisha continued to be one of the most preferred destinations for investment especially in metal, mining and power sectors, the state government had been leveraging this opportunity to plan for orderly, systematic and comprehensive economic growth by focusing upon infrastructure development and creating dedicated industrial corridors, he said.
"The nature of industrial activities in the state requires a robust and well planned railway infrastructure for its sustainability. For this purpose, we are in the process of formulating a Railway Master plan for Odisha," Patnaik said.
Noting that the Central Government has initiated many ambitious projects like dedicated freight corridor aligned with mega industrial hubs, national road expressways and high speed train projects, Patnaik said those appeared to have bypassed Odisha although some of the country's largest investments in steel, aluminium and power sectors are coming up here.
The volume of investments in Odisha in diverse sectors at different stages is in excess of a staggering Rs 8,85,000 crore, Patnaik said adding that the state government had taken important steps to create greenfield ports that should be the country's gateway to international maritime trade as well as for coastal shipping between east and west coasts of of the country.
It was expected that growth in rail borne traffic would be in excess of 300 MMTPA in the next five years, Patnaik said adding that he had been requesting the Ministry of Railways to put in place a time-bound infrastructure upgradation arrangement for the ports coming up on the Odisha coast.
"A synchronised development plan between those of the ports and related rail connectivity is a necessity for maximising economic gains. In this context, the eastern dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni should be extended to Brahmapur so as to ensure seamless movement of freight between the ports and vast northern and central hinterlands," he said.
