New Delhi: There has been a spurt in investments by around 228 per cent by railways in Orissa during the current fiscal compared to 2014-15, the railway ministry said in the Lok Sabha Wednesday.
“The total outlay for 2016-17 for Orissa for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling is `4,464 crore which is 228 per cent more than the outlay provided for the year 2014-15,” the ministry replied to a listed starred question.
According to the ministry, out of the sanctioned funds, eight new line projects of 1,174 km length fall partially/ fully in the state for which a budgetary allocation of `755 crore has been made for the current financial year. The cost of the new line projects is `11,676 crore.
This includes two new line projects included in Budget 2016-17 subject to requisite approval for which the ministry has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Orissa for cost sharing.
These two lines are Jeypore-Malkangiri (130 km) where the state will share 25 per cent of the project cost while for the Jeypore-Nabrangpur (38 km) line, Orissa will be sharing 50 per cent of the project cost and give land free.
The ministry also claimed that in anticipation of Orissa government coming forward to take up projects through joint venture, four new line projects have been included under the ‘Capital Investment Programme’ of 2016-17 at an anticipated cost of `7,607 crore.
In this regard, MoU and joint venture agreement have been signed between Orissa and railways to undertake mutually identified rail infrastructure projects for project development, resources mobilisation and monitoring.
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