Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report. (The provisional route of this line can be seen in this map.)

The rail link option was mooted during the setting up of Rourkela Steel Plant (then Hindustan Steel Company Ltd). The German experts linked to the steel plant had foreseen the Bimlagarh-Talcher rail link as a corridor between the key rail routes of Howrah and Mumbai besides Howrah and Madras.

The proposed route is likely to reduce distance between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar by almost 180 km. However, alleged lack of political willingness among the leaders of Orissa is to be blamed for the failure, locals said.

The proposed route is also poised to make mineral transportation more economical by establishing direct rail connection to mines of Ranchi, Bokaro and Bhilai besides key mining zones of Orissa with the Paradip port.

After several mass agitations, the project finally got the approval of the Railway Ministry and a provision to release only Rs 10 to Rs 15 crore annually was made. Going by this count, the project estimated to cost around Rs 750 crore, could take five more decades to complete.

The work is to be carried out by the construction wing of East Coast Railway.