Bhubaneswar, Feb 3
The Union government has allocated Rs 10,928 crore for the development of railway infrastructure in Odisha in the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27, presented in Parliament late last week by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
In his interactions with the media, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Sitharaman have allocated a record Rs 10,928 crore in the Union Budget 2026-27.
He also added that various railway projects worth Rs 90,659 crore are currently under progress across Odisha.
"When the double-engine government came to power in 2024, we promised that projects worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore would be implemented in Odisha over the next five years. As we move ahead towards this target, we have so far reached Rs 90,659 crore and require projects worth another Rs 10,000 crore to achieve the goal. We are committed to fulfilling the promise we made," Union Minister Vaishnaw said.
The Union Railway Minister also added that Odisha remains a key focus of Prime Minister Modi.
He also told the media that the proposed East-West Freight Corridor, starting from Dankuni in West Bengal, will pass through Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, and connect to Surat Port in Gujarat and Vadhavan Port in Maharashtra.
Union Minister Vaishnaw also claimed that this will boost industrial development in Odisha.
He noted that six pairs each of Vande Bharat Express and Amrit Bharat Express train services are currently operational in Odisha.
"In the last 11 years, nearly 2,200 km of new railway tracks have been constructed in Odisha. If you compare, this is more than the entire railway network of Malaysia during the last 11 years. I want to thank Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi for his cooperation. The double-engine government in Odisha has worked in a very focused way," he said.
On the query related to the death of elephants in train accidents, Union Minister Vaishnaw said that work is in progress to install optical fibre and new technology in all the elephant corridor areas of the state.
He also told that the Railways are going to launch AI-based thermal cameras within the next six months to stop the elephant deaths on railway tracks.
The Union Minister also noted that 200 places across the country, including Odisha, have been identified to construct new underpasses so that the elephants can pass through the underpasses and not come onto the railway track.
He assured that Odisha is slated to receive high-speed rail corridors in the upcoming phases.
- IANS
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