Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan refutes Odisha’s claim of low railway allocations

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the state government rejected the East Coast Railway’s (ECoR) claim of increased allocation for Odisha in the 2021-22 Railway budget, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan stated that Narendra Modi government has all along been cooperative towards railway infrastructure development in Odisha.

Referring to Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera’s allegation that allocation in the budget has been far less than expectation, Pradhan said, “Some people have been saying something without having facts.” 

Without taking names, Pradhan said Odisha has received per annum average allocations of Rs 838 crore in the Railway budget between 2009 and 2014 compared to Rs 4,126 crore between 2014 and 2019. He said total allocation of budget for railway infrastructure projects in Odisha has increased from Rs 4,568 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 4,884 crore in 2020-21.

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Stating that 39 railway projects costing Rs 61,949 crore for 4,877 km length are in different stages of execution in Odisha, he said, this includes 12 new railway line projects covering a length of 1,542 km at a cost of Rs 27,072 crore.

The Union Minister requested the state government to complete land acquisition for the Khurda Road-Balangir railway line project which has received a record allocation of Rs 1,000.50 crore. Work on the project can be expedited if the state government completes land acquisition in Sonepur, Boudh and Kandhamal districts, he said.

He said that the holding capacity of Angul Electric Loco Shed has been increased from 100 engines to 150 engines in the budget. Besides, announcement has also been made about establishment of electric engine overhauling workshop in Kalahandi district.

The Congress, however, criticised the Centre for not meeting the requirement of Odisha even as the State contributed a lot towards Indian Railway’s revenue generation.

“The Centre made more allocations for the states where elections will be held in 2021,” alleged OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik.