Odisha got highest allocation in Railways this Budget, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

In the Budget, the Khurda Road-Bolangir project received ₹891 crore allocation while ₹475 crore was allocated for the Angul-Sukinda railway line. The Talcher-Bimlagarh railway line received allocation of ₹250 crore while the allocation for the Bansapani-Daitari-Tomka-Jakhpura railway line increased to ₹300 crore.

Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday claimed that the budgetary allocation of ₹9723 crore for the development of railway infrastructure in 2022-23 in Odisha is the highest amount ever received by the state.

Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that Odisha had been neglected during the period when the UPA government was in power at the Centre. (ANI PHOTO.)

The minister said the allocations for Odisha in 2019-20 and 2020-21 were ₹4,568 crore and ₹5,296 crore respectively. “In 2021-22, the budgetary allocation was ₹5,921 crore and an additional allocation of ₹550 crore more was made during the revised estimate. So, the total allocation made to Odisha in 2021-22 was ₹6,471 crore,” he said, adding that this is 10 times of what the state got during the UPA rule.

“Odisha had been neglected during the period when the UPA government was in power at the Centre. On an average, the state had been receiving a meagre ₹834 crore every year from 2009 to 2014,” said Vaishnaw.

In the Budget, the Khurda Road-Bolangir project received ₹891 crore allocation while ₹475 crore was allocated for the Angul-Sukinda railway line. The Talcher-Bimlagarh railway line received allocation of ₹250 crore while the allocation for the Bansapani-Daitari-Tomka-Jakhpura railway line increased to ₹300 crore. An amount of ₹172.5 crore has been provided for the Sambalpur-Talcher railway line.

“There will be no dearth of funds for the development of Railways in the state,” Vaishnaw said.