Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said the Centre has allocated a record Rs 10,012 crore for various rail projects in Odisha in the Union Budget. “Odisha had sought an allocation of Rs 8,400 crore, but PM Narendra Modi has provided Rs 10,012 crore, the highest-ever railway allocation for the state, for the 2023-24 financial year,” Vaishnaw told reporters at a virtual press conference.
The minister said the Centre made the record allocation for Odisha keeping in view the PM’s ‘Purvodaya’ policy that focuses on the overall development of the eastern region. The railway allocation for the previous fiscal was Rs 9,734 crore, which included the state’s share and extra-budgetary resources, official sources said.
Vaishnaw said 280 km of new tracks will be laid in the state, and 57 stations will be modernised during 2023-24. The passenger reservation system will also be revamped, he added. Odisha generates freight revenue of around Rs 20,000 crore per annum for the Indian Railways, the sources said.
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