With the interim rail budget silent on the proposed railway wagon factory at Sitalapalli in Ganjam district, people in the region are worried and feel the project is being pushed into uncertainty.
The proposal for construction of the factory was first announced by the then railways minister Mamata Banerjee in her budget speech in 2011-12. Since then every railways minister mentioned about it in the budget every year.
"But the present silence shows the step-motherly attitude of railways to Odisha," said Rajya Sabha member Renubala Pradhan.
"Since interim railway budget is silent on the project, we are in doubt over its implementation," said MLA (Gopalpur) Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi.
"When the state government has extended all cooperation for implementation of the project, including identifying the site, we are surprised over the ministry's silence," Panigrahi said.
The project is to be implemented in public-private partnership (PPP) mode and the ministry has sought 100 acres from the state government.
The district administration has earmarked 101 acres after a joint verification with officials of East Coast Railway. This has already been conveyed to the railways ministry, official sources said.
