Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urges Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate more funds to the state in upcoming Railway Budget. CM Patnaik said this in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Patnaik in his letter to Prime Minister said that, “ I would request you to kindly ensure allocation of a sizeable part of the revenues generated from Odisha within the State itself for strengthening and expanding rail infrastructure.”
Full text of letter of CM Naveen Patnaik to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Dear Prime Ministerji
Sub: Railway Budget 2014-15 - Proposal of Odisha.
You would appreciate that Odisha continues to be one of the most preferred destinations for investment especially in metal, mining and power sectors. The Government of Odisha is leveraging this opportunity to plan for orderly, systematic and comprehensive economic growth by focusing upon infrastructure development and creating dedicated industrial corridors. 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 21 Railway Master plan for Odisha. As highlighted in my earlier letters to you, the railway route length and rail density in Odisha is Well below national average as also substantially lower than that in neighboring States. In contrast, gross earnings from various stations in the state of Odisha is estimated to be in excess of Rs. 14,000 crore during the year 2013-2014. I would request you to kindly ensure allocation of a sizeable part of the revenues generated from Odisha within the State itself for strengthening and expanding rail infrastructure. The Central Government have initiated many ambitious projects like dedicated freight corridor aligned with mega industrial hubs, national road expressways and high speed train projects which appears to have completely bypassed the State of Odisha although some of the country’s largest investment in the steel, aluminum and power sectors are coming up herein. The volume of investments in the State in diverse sectors at different stages is in excess of a staggering Rs.8,85,000 crores. My Government have taken important steps to create Greenfield ports that shall be the country’s gateway to international maritime trade as well as for coastal shipping between the east and west coasts of India. It is expected that the growth in rail borne traffic will be in excess of 300 MMTPA in the next five years. I have 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 synchronized development plan between those of the ports and related rail connectivity is a necessity for maximizing 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 the vast northern and central hinterlands of the country. There is a large part of Odisha especially the backward regions which have remained untouched by the Railways. The lack of infrastructure has been one of the major reasons which has impeded the socio-economic growth of this region. As you must be aware, these areas are also seriously affected by left Wing extremism. I believe that delivering rail services in the naxal affected regions is one of the best means to channelize development therein and provide counter active force. Many of the present industrial clusters have attained a stage of saturation in terms availability of land, water and environmental concerns. Hence, it is imperative that new virgin areas are opened up for development. In this context, the construction of Bhadrachalam Road-Talcher rail link via Malkangiri, Jeypore, Lanjigarh, Sambalpur-Brahmapur new rail link via Phulbani and RayagadaGopalpur rail link via Bhismagiri assumes importance. Surveys for these lines have been sanctioned and I would request you to advise the Ministry of Railways to execute these projects on priority basis. These projects should be treated as ‘National Projects’. Another important project connecting backward western Odisah to costal Odisha is Khurda — Bolangir railway line, which was sanctioned way back in 1994-95, but the progress is slow pace due to lack of fund. Odisha government has committed to allocate land (including private land) in the Daspalla-Bolangir stretch (112-289 KM) free of cost and share 50% of ctmstruction cost for this segment. Hence, Railway ministry may be urged to take up this project on top priority. The State is developing dedicated sector specific Industrial Investment regions with a focused approach on provisioning industrial infrastructure, in the Steel, Aluminum, Coal and Petrochemicals. In the first place Government of Odisha proposes dedicated rail corridors in the AngulTalcher Coal belt, Basundhara Coal belt in Jharsuguda-Sundargarh and Banspani-Nayagarh iron ore region. These corridors are proposed to be cohabited by multiple users and developed through participative funding. Railway may consider for setting up of SPV for these rail corridors. There is a constant demand to improve passenger amenities at major railway stations as well as in trains. In this context, it is requested to advise Railways to expedite execution of a world class station at Bhubaneswar and holy pilgrimage town of Puri. Odisha Government has communicated to bear 50% cost of construction of an ultramodern station building at Bhubaneswar. Similarly, the railway stations at important district centers and major tourist destinations need special attention to provide multi-functional complexes and upgraded passenger amenities. Bhubaneswar-Cuttack region which is planned as mega urban complex also needs to have a rail based urban transport system. I would also like to urge you to advise Ministry of Railways for strengthening of rail project execution infrastructure in the State with adequate deployment of officials and staff for time bound implementation of the projects.
A brief on the proposed railway package for Odisha for the year 201415 containing proposals for new lines, doubling, electrification, gauge conversion, passenger amenities, introduction of new trains etc. is enclosed herewith for your consideration.
I hope our proposals would receive your personal attention and favourable consideration.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
Naveen Patnaik
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