Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday said the Centre’s approval for multiple railway track-laying projects will improve connectivity in coastal and industrialised districts of the state.
Majhi, in a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, expressed gratitude for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approving the multi-tracking projects.
Earlier in the day, the panel approved four multi-tracking projects worth about Rs 9,450 crore, under which a total of 410 km of railway lines will be laid.
These projects include 173-km Kharagpur-Bhadrak (Ranital) fourth line (West Bengal and Odisha), 75-km Bhadrak-Haridaspur fourth line (Odisha), 90-km Gummidipundi-Gudur third and fourth line (Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), and 72-km Cuttack-Paradeep (Badabandha) third and fourth line (Odisha).
The chief minister said the approval of these projects marks a transformative step for rail infrastructure in Odisha and will decongest critical freight and passenger corridors, and meaningfully improve connectivity for coastal and industrialised districts.
Apart from strengthening capacity augmentation and movement of coal, iron ore, cement, steel and food grains — commodities vital to Odisha’s economy — these projects will also enhance access to destinations such as Bhitarkanika National Park, Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandipur Beach, Gada Kujanga Jagannath Temple, Dhabaleswar Temple, Sarala Temple and the Buddhist heritage site of Lalitgiri, the CM said in the letter.
“This will give a fresh impetus to tourism, pilgrimage, and local livelihoods across the region,” Majhi said, adding that the enhanced connectivity to thousands of villages and lakhs of citizens is a testament to the Centre’s continued commitment to Odisha’s development under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
He thanked the PM and the railway minister for this significant investment in Odisha’s rail infrastructure and future growth.
According to an official statement, the four projects cover eight districts across the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The proposed multi-tracking projects will enhance connectivity to approximately 6,448 villages, which have a population of about 60 lakh.
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