By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 3, 2017 : The union government appears to hasten up railway development in Odisha by allocating Rs 5102 crore to the state out of total Rs 5847 allocated to East Coast Railway (ECoR).

Odisha’s much delayed Khurda-Bolangir rail project got an allocation of Rs 700 crore for in the union Budget 2017, according to ECoR General Manager Umesh Singh.

Addressing a press conference on Friday here, Singh said The Union Government has accepted the State Government’s request to set up a new broad gauge railway line between Nuapada and Gunupur section extending up to Thiruvalli. Rs 935.72 crore has been approved for this new line.

He also briefed about the allocations made for other key projects in the state.

Among the major ongoing projects, Rs 275 core allocation has been made for Jeypore-Nabrangpur railway project, Rs 250 crore has been allocated for Talcher-Bimalagarh project, Haridaspur-Paradip rail project gets Rs 200 crore, and Angul-Sukinda road project gets Rs 200 crore.

Rs 1.5 crore has been given for Daitati-Banspani rail project. Rs 79 crore has been allocated for Jeypore-Malkangiri project and Rs 5 crore for Lanjigarh road-Junagarh project.

A freight train maintenance facility at Sambalpur’s Maneswar has also been approved by the government which will be constructed with a budget allocation of Rs 49.16 crore. The Centre has allocated Rs 186.37 crore for Electric loco POH workshop at Kalahandi.

Allocations have also been made for a foot bridge at Bhubaneswar railway station, over bridges at Khetrajpur station in Sambalpur and Bhadrak station.