Trivedi to have talks with Naveen before budget

BHUBANESWAR: In an unprecedented development Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has assured a delegation led by Assembly Speaker Pradip Amat that he will visit Odisha with a high level official team before finalising the 2012-13 Railway Budget to discuss with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik the expectations of the State Government.The Assembly committee headed by the Speaker met the Railway Minister in New Delhi on Thursday demanding allocation of ` 2345 crore for Odisha in the budget. This time the MPs from Odisha cutting across partylines were also part of the delegation.The major demands of the state includes completion of ongoing projects like six broad gauge rail links, two gauge conversion projects, electrification work, doubling of rail lines and other allied rail facilities and amenities.The State Government had last year demanded Rs 2,085 crore and received only Rs 1168 crore, which was inadequate to meet the requirement. Besides the inadequate funding in the budget, many of the projects have languished because of the slow pace of land acquisition. The Assembly committee has also suggested that progress in the land acquisition for different projects should be monitored regularly.The neglect of the railway sector in Odisha which contributes revenue of Rs 7,500 crore to the railways every year can be gauged from allocations to key projects last year. The provision for the Daitari-Banspani railway line project on which the industrialisation of the state badly depends was Rs 70 crore and Rs 75 crore in 2011-12 and 2010-11 budget respectively.Another key project is Khurda Road-Balangir rail link of 289 kilometres. This is also languishing due to different reasons including lack of funding. The allocation for the project was Rs 120 crore in 2010-11, but it came down to Rs 60 crore in 2011-12. The project was announced in 1994-95 with an estimated cost of Rs 1000 crore. But land acquisition for the project has been completed for only 36 kilometres towards Khurda Road.Haridaspur-Paradip railway line project is also another instance of how a project which can help in the industrialisation of the state has languished for want of funds as well as delay in land acquisition.In the last budget only Rs 10 crore was allotted for the Railway Vikash Nigam Limited (RVNL) in 2011-12 budget which has taken up the construction work. Another Rs 168.15 crore was to be raised through the PPP route. In the 2010-11 budget, the allocation was Rs 101 crore.The allocation for Talcher-Bimalagarh was Rs 66 crore. The proposed Digha-Jaleswar railway line project got Rs 150 crore. The Koraput-Rayagada railway line project got a token allocation of Rs 10 lakh only.Gauge conversion also received scant attention in the budget last year. While Rupsa-Bangriposi railway line got Rs 2 crore, Nuapada-Gunupur project was allocated Rs 12 crore. Former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy, a member of the Assembly committee, hoped that this time the allocation will go up. The attitude of the Railway Minister was positive towards Odisha, he said.