By Nageshwar Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, February 27, 2015 :

Odisha has got more allocation in the railway budget than what it demanded.

In fact, more than 130% increase in the allocation of funds to the state for rail infrastructure development has sprung a pleasant surprise to the chief minister Naveen Patnaik, his MPs, MLAs as well as the officials.

Odisha has been  allocated around Rs 3374 crore [Rs 3112.48 crore for the state portion of East Coast Railways and Rs 261.52 crore for South Eastern Railways] in the Railway Budget – 2015 FY against the demand of Rs 3200 crore by the Biju Janata Dal [BJD] government, the sources in the railways said.

However, the state government sources said only Rs 2515 crore have been allocated to the state and their information is based on telephonic input and from TV telecast “which is subject to confirmation on actual arrival of budget papers”. Even then it is the highest allocation to the state by the Railways as on date.Odisha has got more allocation in the railway budget than what it demanded.

The mineral rich state, which has been facing rail infrastructure bottlenecks for decades, is expected to benefit from the higher budgetary allocation by the railways. Nevertheless, the allocation is not suffice enough to address the poor railway coverage of the state, which has hampered all round development of the state.

Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation across the globe as it is the cheapest mode of transportation. However, Odisha – a state strategically located with vast mineral resources,   has been neglected for ages since British era.

By March 2014, the state had only 2540 kilometers [km] of railway lines and the railway route length in the state per thousand square kilometer or what is known as railway density, is about 16 km against national average of 20 km. Till date as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of 30 districts of the state do not have the presence of railways.

For the first time, the Railways have allocated huge sum for the state’s rail development. Primarily, the higher allocation is aimed at transportation of coal, iron ore and other minerals from pit heads to plants as the Narendra Modi government is keen on stepping up power generation and industrial development, observers said.

The higher allocation for some key infrastructure projects, languishing in neglect for lack of adequate funding for more than a decade, is expected to step up economic activity in these regions.  Bansapani-Jakhapura rail connectivity – a long standing demand by the Odisha government and the industry, has got the highest allocation of Rs 513 crore followed by Sambalpur-Titilagarh doubling [Rs 470 crore], Talcher-Bimalagarh  [Rs 280 crore] and Raipur-Titilagarh [Rs 241.52 crore].

Significantly, allocation of Rs 195 crore for 289 kms long Khurda Road-Bolangir rail line will go a long way to remove the regional disparity. The state government has already committed itself to provide land to railways free of cost and bear half of the project cost. With both the state and railways by joining hands together can ensure this crucial line ready in a couple of years.

“Odisha definitely has got higher budgetary allocation this time. But many of the projects launched more than a decade ago have not been given proper attention. Now that the state government has agreed to fund 50% of the project cost in Khruda-Bolangir rail line, it should release the fund at the earliest so that the rail line can come up at the earliest.  However, the Railways have not addressed many nagging issues of rail development in the state particularly rail link to the Maoist dominated regions in the state”, former union minister of state for railways, K C Lenka said.

One good thing about this year’s railway budget is that the state government for the first was tight lipped by not repeating its annual allegations of the state being a victim of negligence. The ruling BJD also was found divided on the tenor of their criticism to the railway budget with chief minister Naveen Patnaik himself striking a balance in his reaction to the budget.