Update on May 7 2010: From Dharitri

Update on May 7 2010: From http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4058.

… Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, Minister Planning & Coordination reviewed the progress of the Khurda-Balangir Link Project here on 7 May.

This fact came to the fore during the discussion and insiders feel that unless political pressure will be mounted on the Ministry of Railways (MOR), expecting a fair deal on this project is a far cry.

Poor political weakness makes Odisha Projects vulnerable, pointed out a senior lawmaker.

Project sanctioned in 1994-95 with a cost of Rs.355.38 crore has been revised to Rs.700 crore.

As on today this project needs Rs.1000 crore to be completed, said an expert on Railways.

There are three phases in which the project will be commissioned.

Till date expenditure on the project is only Rs.96.41 crore during last 16 years!

After a lot of hue and cry, MOR has allocated Rs.120 crore in 2010-11.

And officials at the helm feel that if they will be provided funding properly, project will be completed in a short period.

Satyabrat Sahu, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of Commerce & Transport (DOCT) briefed the Minister about the progress.

Mr.Sahu, a pro-active mandarin said thrust is being given for fast progress with funds available.

He said construction activities are going on from the side of Khurda, where as Minister wanted also to start construction from Balangir side.

V K Bahmani, Chief Administrative Officer( Construction) East Coast Railways said that as the current year budget provision has been hiked to Rs.120 crore, construction activities is likely to be carried out in 112 kilometre area.

Now work is going on from 0-36 kilometre area and proposal has already been submitted to IRB for 36-112 kilometre area.

It is expected that Rakesh Kumar Chopra, Member Engineering, IRB will be sanctioning in June.

Mr.Singh Deo urged all the Member of Parliament (MP) cutting across party line to march to New Delhi and press for this Coastal-Western Link, which is very vital for the interest of the state.

Following is from an email sent by Mr. Lalit Patnaik on 31st March 2010.

• In last one month ECOR has made tender docs ready for many jobs up to Nayagarh.
• Tigiria Begunia to Nayagarh is 58 kms.
• From Nayagarh side 20 % land has been acquired.
• Some land from Begunia side has been also acquired. But major chunk of land needs to be acquired by State Govt.
• No information of any work from Bolangir side.
• ECOR is waiting for some administrative sanction from Rail Ministry for that 58 km route length. MP Rudra Narayan Pani has been requested to follow up at Delhi.

• See also the earlier report at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3152.

Following is an excerpt from dnaindia.com.

… The port may be called the Adani-Kalinga Port.

The group has been nurturing a desire to have a port on the eastern coast in addition to the existing one on the western coast. It will help consolidate this group’s position in the port and shipping business in India.

Moreover, any group that owns major ports on both the western and eastern coasts of India could be expected to play a major role in coastal shipping as well, for ferrying goods from one coast to another, thus reducing costs, time and the incidence of pilferage that plagues road transportation.

… The proposed outlay is around Rs 10,000 crore. According to current plans, this port is to have 16 berths, and will have a capacity of 100 million tonnes —- almost similar to the capacity planned for Mundra.

… The interest of the Adani group has been confirmed by Satyabrat Sahu, transport and commerce secretary of Orissa, who is on record stating, “The Adani Group has given this proposal to set up a port. The state government is examining the proposal.”

… According to senior people in both the Adani group as well as the Orissa government, the process of examination is almost complete, and two of three approvals required have been obtained.

The last one should be in hand in a few days.

Adani officials said the port could be developed in two phases near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district, barely three km from Jatadhari Muhan, where Posco India plans to set up its own captive port.

The group plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore in each of the two phases. If all goes well, 12 of the 16 berths should be up and running by 2015-16.

According to current plans, the port will handle coal, iron ore, liquid and containerised cargo. It may be mentioned that the Adani group owns several coal mines in Indonesia. Some of this coal is already being imported into India through the Mundra port.

Similarly, the Adani-Kalinga port could be the entry point for coal imports on the eastern coast as well, to feed many of the power plans that are expected to come up south of the proposed Adani-Kalinga port.

Similarly, since the Adani group has already become India’s largest player in the edible oil market through Adani-Wilmar Ltd, and owns oil plantations in Malaysia, this port could also play a significant part in edible oil imports.

The Adanis have also shown an interest in mining projects.

What is not known at this stage is the amount of land that will be available to the port, since a successful port must have good draft (depth), lots of land for storing goods meant to be shipped, and for evacuation of cargo that arrives at the port and transportation linkages to the hinterland.

… Since the Adani group has offered to the state government that it will be willing to invest in road and railways networks in and around the port, such a move could help in the overall economic growth of the state itself.

Such efforts could be further buttressed by hectic lobbying by both the Posco management and the owners of Dhamra Port (jointly owned by Larsen & Toubro and the Tata Group) for improving rail and road linkages on the eastern coast in India.

As was the case with the Mundra Port, the Adani group also plans to invest in power projects near this port as well.

The Odisha government should propose that Adani fund a new railway line along the proposed highway between Bhubaneswa/Khurda to Paradip and also part of the Khurda-Balangir line. The advantage for Adani will be:

• They will have a shorter path for their oil and other imports to be distributed in south India.
• Similarly through the Khurda-Balangir route and with another short-cut from Balangir to Nawapara Rd (need to be constructed) they will have another quick access path to western and central India. 

(The above mentioned three segments are shown in brown below.)

This will be a win-win situation in that it will allow both Adani and Odisha government to industrialize the Khurda-Balangir corridor and the interior areas such as Nayagarh, Phulbani and Bouda. Unlike the Railway line via Talcher and Angul and the one via Paradip-Haridaspur-Jakhapura-Keonjhar, the Paradip-Khurda-Balangir path will have less traffic from other entities, including very little passenger traffic, making it faster for Adani to send goods that way. Since the Khurda-Balangir corridor lacks industries the government may find it easier to find land and local support for industries in that corridor. In that case, it can encourage Adani and others to set up some of their planned industries in that corridor.

All of the above assume that the above dnaindia.com report is correct in that Adani aims to import coal and oil through this port and not focus on exporting minerals from Odisha.

Railway Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee had announced during the 2010 Railway budget that all new trains, extensions and frequency increases that were announced in the 2009 budget will be implemented by the end of March 2010. That day is 8 days away. Following are the trains mentioned in 2009 budget and the subsequent time table that are relevant to Odisha and that are yet to be implemented.

• 2745/46 Puri-LTT weekly express (weekly): SECR announcement has come regarding its implementation. See this and this. With the implementation of this connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Mumbai will further increase to a daily Konark express and four times a week trains via Angul.
• 5643/44 Puri-Kamakhya Express (weekly)
• 8107/08 Rourkela Koraput Express (daily)
• 2281/82 Bhubaneswar- New Delhi Duranto express (weekly)
• 2847/48 Howrah Yeshvantpur Express (weekly) – This train may be scrapped as a new 2245/46 Howrah-Yeshvantpur Duronto express, which was not in the 2009 budget (nor in the time table), was suddenly introduced few months back and the 2010 budget increases the frequency of that train to 4 times a week. If the 2847/48 is scrapped then it will be a loss to Odisha as the Duronto has no commercial stops in between.
• 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express (daily) – Extension to Puri.
• 8415/16 Puri-Kendujhargarh Express (daily) – Extension to Barbil. [Finally done on 8th February, 2012]
• 2443/44 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express – Frequency increase to 4 times a week. Prior to 2009 budget it was 2 times a week. Some time back after the 2009 budget it was made 3 times a week. Once it becomes 4 times a week there will be a daily Rajdhani between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. (Update: Became 4 times a week in the end of April 2010.)

In addition the 8495/96 Bhubaneswar – Rameswaram Express, which was announced in the 2007-08 Railway budget, is yet to be operationalized. The delay has been due to the gauge conversion that was going on on part of the route. It is complete now. So this train should start running any day now. (Update: It will start on May 21, 2010.)

Looking ahead the trains relevant to Odisha that were announced in the 2010 budget are: 

1. Guwahati-Mumbai(Weekly) via Howrah-Tatanagar-Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Nagpur unreserved train. [Done: December 2010]
2. Howrah-Chennai- Puducherry- Madurai – Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore – Mysore – Chennai-Howrah Bharat Tirth tourist train (?)
3. Howrah- Vizag- Hyderabad- Araku- Howrah Bharat Tirth tourist train (?)
4. Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad Bharat Tirth tourist train
5. Puri – Howrah daytime Duronto [Done: December 7 2010]
6. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar (Weekly) [DONE: April 2010]
7. Haldia – Chennai Express (Weekly) [Done: December 2010]
8. New Jalpaiguri – Chennai Express (Weekly) [Done: January 2011]
9. Bhubaneswar-Pune Express (Weekly) [Done: February 24 2011]
10. Sambalpur-Howrah Express (Weekly) [Done: December 11 2010]
11. Howrah – Berhampur Express (Tri- weekly)  (?)
12. Baripada – Shalimar Intercity Express (Tri – weekly) [Done: January 2011]
13. Howrah – Shirdi Express (Weekly) [Done: February 24 2011]
14. Puri – Valsad Express (Weekly) via Katni- Bhopal – Vadodara [Done: February 2011]
15. Puri-Digha Express (Weekly) [Done: December 11 2010]
16. Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road Passenger [Done: January 2011]
17. Naupada-Gunupur Passenger (after gauge conversion) [Puri-Palasa  passenger extended to Paralakhemundi from December 18 2010]
18. 2807/2808 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from 3 days to 5 days [Done: January 2011]
19. 2831/2832 Bhubaneswer-Hatia Garib Rath to Dhanbad (Tri-weekly) [Done: January 9th 2011]
20. 8425/8426 Puri –Raipur Express to Durg (Daily) [DONE: August 1 2010]
21. 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur (Daily) [Done: December 17 2010]
22. 209/210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger to Talcher Road (Daily) [Done: December 18 2010]
23. Howrah-Sri Satya Sai Prasanti Nilayam Express (weekly) [Not announced in the budget but announced during the budget discussion in the parliament.] [Done: February 2011]

Recently unhappiness is brewing because of various trains bypassing Cuttack. See the following news item from Samaja.

I believe there is a easy solution to this: Develop the Naraj station to have express train stops and develop the accessibility of the Naraj station from the roads that goes from Naraj to Bidanasi side of Cuttack.

I wrote about it earlier in http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1967. Following are some excerpts from that article.

Naraj Station lies across Kathjodi river about 1 km away from the bridge. It is about 2 kms from the proposed 2nd campus of Ravenshaw university, 3-4 km from Bidanasi-CDA and within 1 km from the proposed Sri Sri University. 

Several trains in the BBS (Bhubaneswar)-SBP (Sambalpur) line such as 2893 (BBS-BLGR superfast), 8304 (Puri-SBP Intercity), 8405 (Puri-ADI), 8507 (VSK-ASR) skip Cuttack and go via Naraj without stopping there. By developing the Naraj station a bit more, developing the road between the station and the bridge, and introducing stops at Naraj station people in Cuttack will be able to easily access these trains.

… Naraj is really very close to Cuttack; much close to Cuttack than Barang or the proposed station between Barang and Patia. Also, Naraj station is much closer to the newer parts of Cuttack (such as CDA and Bidanasi) than the Cuttack station. Also, a lot of development is planned near Naraj that includes the Sri Sri University, National Law University and 2nd campus of Ravenshaw University. …

There were some concerns regarding the overlap with the proposed New Barang station between Patia and Bhubaneswar. I think with the rate Cuttack-Bhubaneswar area is growing even if a major station in the form of a New Barang station comes up, it will be still a good idea to have a express stop station in Naraj.

In the not too far future the greater Bhubaneswar area would need five stations: Khurda Rd, Bhubaneswar, New Barang, Cuttack and Naraj. The following map shows the five stations and the distance between them.

The following table (except the last three rows) is from an Odisha government source.  All the amounts are in crores of rupees.

The last three rows are filled by me. The rest is from an Odisha government document.

The above numbers are in Crores of Rupees. In the above "C" denotes Capital, "F" denotes Capital Fund and "R" denotes RVNL funding. The notation ** above means that data is missing.

Now lets do a projection to the future.

Following is from Dharitri.

The above article writes about the analysis of ex-MP Braja Tripathy. His main complaint is that Indian Railways makes 10% of its revenue (about 6000 crores) from Odisha but has spent only 2% of the budget in Odisha; 836 crores out of 41,426 crores. He also says that in 2008-09 the Rail budget had 948.34 crores for Odisha and since then while the revenue and planned expenses have increased 10-15%, Odisha’s rail budget has decreased by 115 crores. 

Mr. Tripathy has a very good point. We made similar points in our page http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ and in the article http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1550.

However, I partly agree with the comment made by Mr. Prasanna Mishra; this year’s allotment of 120 crores for the Khurda-Balangir line is pretty good. The Odisha government must facilitate land acquisition so that the full 120 crores is spent this year. That way it can ask for more in the next budget and possibly get it. Otherwise next year Khurda-Balangir will get a smaller allocation and we will be back to square one.

(All numbers above are in Crores of Rupees. Cap means Capital expenditure and RVN means expenditure through Rail Vikas Nigam.)

2006 had a big allocation of 155.6 crores just for Daitari-Bansapani for its completion. With that done, in 2007 Lalu really screwed [pardon my language!] Odisha with respect to the new lines by having a total budget on new lines and gauge conversion of only 132 crores. (There may have been another 20 crores in that budget in the green book.) Things picked up a bit in 2008 and 2009 and finally now, it is at a decent state.

Now we must make sure that by next year there is approval of Buramra-Chakulia and increase in the allocation for all the other projects that are not completed or about to be completed. A sample projected budget (for new lines) that we should aim for the next seven years is as follows.

Other lines that are mentioned in the 2010-11 budget and to be pursued beyond are: Lanjigarh Rd – Phulbani – Talcher, Berhampur – Phulbani, etc.

Update on March 9 2010: As per http://www.khaskhabar.com/daily-news.php?storyid=23144 Mamata Banerjee announced 6 more trains in the Lok Sabha. One of them will pass through Odisha. That one is:

• HWH-Sri Satya Sai Prasanti Nilayam (weekly).

Following are excerpted from the 2010-11 Railway Budget Speech and the Pink Book.

Page 5: In line with our Vision, for the first time ever we are planning a major jump to complete 1,000 route-kms of new lines in one year with our limited resources. This is a path-breaking step, considering the annual average of 180 route kms of new lines in the last 58 years and 219 route-kms in the last five years. If we can achieve this target of 1,000 route-kms, we can also reach the Vision 2020 goal of 25,000 kms.

The House would be glad to know that of the 120 new trains, extensions and increase in frequencies announced, 117 would be flagged off by the end of March 2010. The remaining three would be started on completion of gauge conversion works.

Work has been initiated in all the 67 Multi-functional Complexes (MFCs). Development of Adarsh Stations has also started in phases.

Page 6: Adarsh Stations: Angul, Belpahar, Doikallu, Jakhapura, Jharsuguda, Lanjigarh Road, Lapanga, Meramandali, Raghunathpur, Rengali, Titlagarh Jn.

Page 7: another 93 Multi-functional Complexes – Balasore, Brahmapur, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Sambalpur

Page 12: Outpatient Departments (OPD) and diagnostic centres – Balasore, Balugaon, Bhadrak, Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Jharsuguda, Kantabanji, Kesinga, Khurda Rd, Koraput Jn, Rayagada, Rourkela, Sambalpur Jn, Titlagarh

Page 13: Secondary-level General Speciality Hospitals –  Bhadrak, Brahmapur, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Jharsuguda, Kantabanji,  Koraput Jn, Rayagada

Page 14: Tertiary-level Multi-speciality Hospitals – Kantabanji

[In case some may wonder, why Kantabanji, a town of 22K is listed above: My guess is it is because Kantabanji is the constituency of Santosh Singh Saluja, Congress; a senior leader of the opposition in the Orissa legislative assembly.]

Page 15: The railways will also set up four multidisciplinary training centres at Cuttack, Coochbehar, Malda and Jabalpur.

Page 17: set up five state-of-the-art wagon factories in JV/PPP mode at Secunderabad, Barddhaman, Bhubaneshwar/Kalahandi, Guwahati and Haldia.

[It would be great if the above happens in Kalahandi. Kudos to Dr. Digambara Patra and Kalahandi MP Bhakta Das for their efforts on this.]

Page 20: For the remaining four corridors, that is north-south (Delhi, Haryana, UP, MP, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu), east-west (West Bengal, Jharkahnd, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra), east-south (West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh) and south-south (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa), Preliminary Engineering-cum-Traffic Survey (PETS) will be taken up this
year.

Madam, I had declared DFC as the “Diamond Rail Corridor” project of the Indian Railways. On the lines of DFC, we are now planning to go in for Dedicated Passenger Corridor (DPC), which I declare as the “Golden Rail Corridor” of the Indian Railways.

Therefore, I propose to set up a National High Speed Rail Authority for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring these projects.

Page 24: In my last budget speech, I had highlighted the need to take up socially desirable projects connecting backward areas. Many proposals for such connectivity have been pending for a long time. It is proposed to update the surveys for the following lines and thereafter these will be processed through Planning Commission for necessary approvals:

Navrangpur-Jeypore

Phulbani-Berhampur

Puri-Konark

Raipur-Jharsuguda

Gunupur-Theruvali

Jeypore-Malkangiri

Page 26: New Line Surveys

Talcher-Phulbani-Lanjigarh

Junagarh-Jaypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam

[The above needs to be pushed hard. It will bring connectivity to the hinterlands and Maoist belt of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.]

Page 29: The sections which have either been completed or will be completed during 2009-10 are:

Lanjigarh – Bhawanipatna of Lanjigarh – Junagarh

[Why no train has been announced to ply on this line?]

Page 30: The sections covering 1021 kms proposed to be completed in 2010-11 are:

Bhawanipatna – Junagarh of Lanjigarh – Junargarh

Khurda – Begunia of Khurda – Bolangir

[Next year the Bhubaneswar – Khurda passenger should be extended to Begunia]

Page 31: The following new line projects have been included in the Budget:- Digha-Jaleshwar

Gauge Conversion: The sections which have either been completed or will be completed during 2009-10 are:

Baripada – Bangriposi of Rupsa – Bangriposi

[Why extension of Baripada express to Bangiriposi was not proposed?]

Page 33: During the current year doubling of about 500 km is likely to be completed. The target for doubling of 700 km has been fixed for 2010-11. The following new doubling works have been included in the Budget:

Talcher-Sambalpur

Delang-Puri

[The above two are important; especially the later as many trains are now being extended to Puri.]

Champajharan-Bimlagarh

Page 35: Port Connectivity 120. In order to promote industrial activity, the State Governments and the Centre are giving thrust on the development of the ports. Ports are expected in the States of Gujarat – Porbander, Sutrapada, Dholera, Mahuva, Hazira, Tuna; Maharashtra – Revas, Dharamtar, Dighi; Karnataka – Karwar; Kerala – Azhikkal, Beypore, Thalassery; Orissa – Astranga, Chudamani, Gopalpur; Andhra Pradesh – Vodarevu, Nizampatnam; West Bengal – Sagar Kapil Muni, Haldia.

Railways will welcome participation under PPP for providing rail connectivity to such ports.

I am happy to inform the Hon’ble Members that Indian Railways would be completing about 2,300 route kms of electrification in the first three years of the XI Plan against the target of 3500 kms for the five year period. Another 2,000 kms are planned in the remaining two years.

The following sections are under active consideration:

Vizianagram-Raigada

In addition to above, feasibility studies for the following sections will be undertaken:

Angul-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda

Page 39 – The following unreserved trains are being proposed for the common people:

ii. Guwahati-Mumbai(Weekly) via Howrah-Tatanagar-Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Nagpur

Bharat Tirth Trains

139. To support government’s effort of promoting tourism in our country, Railways will launch special tourist trains called “Bharat Tirth” connecting popular tourist sites in different parts of the country

ii. Howrah-Chennai- Puducherry- Madurai – Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore – Mysore – Chennai-Howrah

iii. Howrah- Vizag- Hyderabad- Araku- Howrah

[Why no mention of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Chilika in the above two?]

ix. Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad

Page 40: Duronto Services

Pune –Howrah AC (Bi- weekly)

Daytime: Puri – Howrah

[Either is not much use for people of Odisha. Hopefully the Duronto concept will soon be revamped to include a few more stops – especially the technical stops – on the way. May be they can say Duranto’s will have at most 2 stops other than the start and end point. In case of Howrah-Puri Duranto the stops could be Bhubaneswar and Kharagpur with the restriction that from HWH-Puri it can pick passengers only at KGP and only drop at BBS and in the reverse directions it can pick passengers at BBS and only drop passengers at KGP.]

Page 41: the following long distance new services are being proposed:

iv. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar (Weekly)

x. Haldia – Chennai Express (Weekly)

xix. New Jalpaiguri – Chennai Express (Weekly)

xxii. Bhubaneswar-Pune Express (Weekly)

xxxiv. Sambalpur-Howrah Express (Weekly)

[The above may be routed through Angul.]

xlv. Howrah – Berhampur Express (Tri- weekly)

[I think the above refers to Berhampur in Orissa. Note that in the budget speech that same spelling is used in many places to refer to Berhampur in Odisha; for example, when mentioning the Phulbani-Berhampur line. There is a Berhampore Ct station in West Bengal but that is better reachable from Sealdah than HWH and there are many daily trains connecting Sealdah and Berhampore Ct. So a tri-weekly express in that route does not make sense. Now, if indeed this train is between HWH and Berhampur of Odisha then it should be extended to Gunupur and made a daily.]

xlvi. Baripada – Shalimar Intercity Express (Tri – weekly)

l. Howrah – Shirdi Express (Weekly)

li. Puri – Valsad Express (Weekly) via Katni- Bhopal – Vadodara

lii. Puri-Digha Express (Weekly)

Page 43: Madam, I would further like to assure the House that 2937/2938 Gandhidham–Howrah Express will be started by the 10th of March, 2010.

Passenger trains

xiii. Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road Passenger

[How many times a day the above will run?]

xxvi. Naupada-Gunupur Passenger (after gauge conversion)

Page 45:

Increase in frequency of trains

ix. 2807/2808 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from 3 days to 5 days

[Very useful for that part of Odisha.]

Extension of trains

x. 2831/2832 Bhubaneswer-Hatia Express to Dhanbad (Tri-weekly)

[Brings new connectivity to Dhanbad.]

xi. 8425/8426 Puri –Raipur Express to Durg

xii. 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur

[Brings express train connectivity to Jeypore and Jagdalpur.]

xiii. 209/210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger to Talcher Road (Daily) 

From the pink book: 

New Lines Construction Budget:

Daitari – Banspani (155 km)   75 crores

[In the 2009-10 budget 60 crores was allocated for it and the budget said only 10 crores more was needed for completion, the total budget estimation was 367.1 (cap) + 483.6 (RVN) crores, with 367.1 + 413.6 already spent. But suddenly in the 2010-11 budget the budget estimation is 367.1 + 933.41 (RVN). I.e., it has increased by about 450 crores, there is an allocation of 75 crores, and amount spent so far is 367.1+ 671.85 crores. I wonder if the Bansapani – Barbil proposal has been folded into this with post-budget money allocation and spending in 2009-10. Note that the survey of Bansapani – Barbil was approved in the 2008-09 budget and Odisha has been pushing for this. It would also benefit Indian Railways a lot as it will drastically shorten the time and distance between Barbil and Bansapani. Perhaps this was such a no-brainer that it was folded in to the original project as soon as the survey was done. ]

Lanjigarh Road – Junagarh (56 km) 60 crores

Khurda Road – Bolangir (289 km)  120 crores

Angul – Sukinda Road (98.7 km) 22.50 crores

Haridaspur – Paradeep (82 km) 101 crores

Talcher – Bimlagarh (154 km)  50 crores

Jaleswar – Digha (41 km) 20 crores

[Good allocation for Khurda-balangir and Talcher-Bimlagarh. The state government should gear up on land acquisition  so that the allocated money is actually spent] 

Odisha should push 2-3 more trains to be announced during the debate. My top choices would be:

• Gunupur – Naupada- Berhampur – Bhubaneswar-Rourkela day time express
• Junagarh-Bhawanipatna-Bhubaneswar Express.
• Extend Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express to Junagarh.

Following are excerpts from a report in expressbuzz.com.

now there are ample opportunities which can help making the district an industrial rich. While an all weather port at Dhamra is on the verge of completion, another port at Kirtania will come up soon. These ports will attract big industrial houses if the government projects the potentiality,” president of BCIC Himanshu Das said.

The industrial body has demanded setting up of a software park in Balasore along with a land bank of 2000 acres for large and medium industries, development of road water supply and drainage system at different industrial estates in the district, setting up of an urban haat, plastic cluster, marketing assistance to SSI units, uninterrupted power supply, development of ancillary industries and proper implementation of single window system.

This apart, BCIC has drawn the attention of the government on transfer of north Orissa railway area (from Lakmannath to Markona) from South Eastern Railway (SER) zone to East Coast zone. “Besides, we want construction of a new railway siding at Bampada as it is essential to have a full-fledged railway siding to meet the enhanced requirement of industries and trade,” Das added.

Update: See inaugural pictures taken by Abhishek Roy at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23140990@N03/.

Following is from the ECOR web site. Thanks to Dilip and Situn for the pointer.

ROURKELA-BHUBANESWAR INTERCITY TO BE INTRODUCED; FREQUENCY OF BHUBANESWAR-LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS (LTT) SUPER FAST EXPRESS INCREASED

Bhubaneswar, February 10, 2010

Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express from 13th February 2010 and increase the frequency of Bhubaneswar-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super fast Express from weekly to bi-weekly with effect from 18th February 2010.

On the inaugural day 8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will be introduced from Rourkela on 13th February 2010, but the usual run of service for this train will commence from 15th February 2010 in both the directions. This train will run daily except Sundays.             

8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will leave Rourkela at 05.30 a.m. and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 01.00 p.m. In the return direction, 8106 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express will leave Bhubaneswar at 01.35 p.m. and will arrive at Rourkela at 09.30 p.m.              

This train has One AC Chair Car, Four Second Class Chair Car, Four General Second Class and two Guard cum Luggage Vans in its composition having stoppages at Dhenkanal, Talcher Road, Angul, Rairakhol, Sambalpur City, Rengali, Jharsuguda, Bamra and Rajgangpur between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

BHUBANESWAR-LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS (LTT) EXPRESS               

It has also been decided to increase the frequency of 2880/2879 Bhubaneswar-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super Fast Express from weekly to bi-weekly w.e.f 18th February 2010 from Bhubaneswar on every Monday & Thursday and w.e.f 20th February 2010 from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) on every Wednesday & Saturday.                

The composition of this train has been increased from 16 coaches to 22 coaches. The train will now run with its new composition i.e. One AC-2 tier, Three AC-3 tier, 11 Sleeper Class, Four General Second Class Coaches, Two Guard cum luggage van and one Pantry Car. The scheduled timings and stoppages for this train at different places will remain unchanged.

In regards to the 2879/80 BBS-LTT, as we wrote in http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2543, although the frequency was announced to be biweekly in 2008-2009 budget, when it was initially implemented it was implemented as a weekly train. Finally it is becoming biweekly. Note that in the 2009-2010 Rail budget and in November 2009 time table there was an announcement for a 2745/2746 Puri-LTT weekly express. That is yet to be implemented. It should get implemented before the next budget.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Orissa government is proposing to develop a special corridor for coal transportation from the state’s coal-bearing district Angul. The 137 km long corridor, which would be developed with an investment of Rs 5000 crore, will connect coal deposits in Talcher, Angul, Meramundali, and Chendipada.

A state government official in the commerce and transport department said the corridor will be developed with rail and road networks with a view to facilitate coal supply to various industries and also transportation to ports for exports and coastal shipments.

Orissa has proven coal deposits of 6,53,53 mt. The Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd. (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India (CIL), is currently raising about 70 to 90 mt per annum. However, as many private and public sector companies are expected to make their allotted coal block operational, coal traffic from the Angul district is expected to increase manifold.

The state has lined up power plants by 21 IPPs (independent power producers) of a total capacity of 25,000 MW. Besides, a power plant of 4000 MW is coming up under the Ultra Mega Power Project(UMPP) scheme and another 4000 MW is being installed by NTPC. In brown field expansion, the AES-owned Orissa Power Generation Corporation and NTPC are adding 1,320 MW each to their facilities at Ib Valley and Talcher respectively. To add to it, several captive generating plants are being set up by aluminium, steel and ferro-alloys plants in the state. To feed these power plants, at least 142 mt of coal will need to be transported from the pit head to power stations every year. 

Indian Railways has come up with a Vision 2020 document. It is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/DEPTTS/Infrastructure/VISION%202020_Eng_SUBMITTED%20TO%20PARLIAMENT.pdf.

In that it says:

The Vision 2020 also envisages the implementation of at least 4 high-speed rail projects to provide bullet train services at 250-350 kmph, one in each of the regions of the nation and planning for at least 8 more corridors connecting commercial, tourist and pilgrimage hubs. Six corridors have already been identified for technical studies on setting up of High Speed Rail Corridors. These are:
i. Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar;
ii. Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad;
iii. Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijayawada-Chennai;
iv. Howrah-Haldia;
v. Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulam;
vi. Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna

In the following map the above six corridors are shown in RED. In BLUE are the corridors that I think Orissa government should push for on the ground of connecting to the commercial, tourist and pilgrimage hub of Bhubaneswar-Puri. These two corridors are:

• Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Puri and
• Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam-Vijaywada

In addition the following corridors (shown in GREEN) should also be made to connect the smaller corridors to make larger corridors.

• Hyderabad-Pune
• Ahmedabad-Jaipur-Delhi
• Patna-Kolkata
• Patna-Guwahati

The document is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/DEPTTS/Infrastructure/VISION%202020_Eng_SUBMITTED%20TO%20PARLIAMENT.pdf.

Following are some excerpts related to Indian Railways operation in Orissa. 

… the Vision proposes to add 25,000 kms of New Lines by 2020, supported by government funding and a major increase in Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Of this, at least 10,000 kms would be socially desirable lines regardless of their economic viability in the short run. This will, of course, include the completion of the backlog of 11,985 kms of lines already sanctioned.

The Vision 2020 also envisages the implementation of at least 4 high-speed rail projects to provide bullet train services at 250-350 kmph, one in each of the regions of the nation and planning for at least 8 more corridors connecting commercial, tourist and pilgrimage hubs. Six corridors have already been identified for technical studies on setting up of High Speed Rail Corridors. These are:
i. Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar;
ii. Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad;
iii. Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijayawada-Chennai;
iv. Howrah-Haldia;
v. Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulam;
vi. Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna

These could be built as elevated corridors in keeping with the pattern of habitation and the constraint of land in our country. The Railways will use the PPP mode for investment and execution, and draw on frontier technologies incorporating the highest standards of safety and service quality.

My Comment:  Orissa jointly with Andhra Pradesh should push for a high speed corridor of Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada. This will create high-speed corridor all the way to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ernakulum.

Execution of new line projects presents a unique set of challenges. Of the 109 new line projects already sanctioned and taken on hand, 8 are national projects (which enjoy assured funding) and 12 are financially viable. Others have been sanctioned on socio-economic grounds. Railways face insurmountable pressures to add more such projects each year, but are unable to earmark more than Rs.1500 crores per annum for these projects. Needless to say, the amount is barely sufficient to neutralize the annual escalation in cost. At this rate, the projects would languish forever. A solution has to be found to ensure funding of these projects. Possible
solutions would include:
(i) Projects in which state governments are willing to share more than 50% could be allocated assured funding by Railways and completed in a time-bound manner.

My Comment: Orissa should contribute part of its NREGS funds which it is having a hard time spending anyway.

(ii) A non-lapsable dedicated fund could be set up outside the normal railway budget for construction of lines sanctioned on socio-economic considerations, so that all the projects could be completed by 2020. 

By 2020, IR would strive to
a) Establish quality of service benchmarked to the best of the Railway systems in the world.
b) Expand its route network at the rate of 2500 kms per annum. By 2020, 25,000 kms of new line will be added and almost the entire network (barring the hill and heritage railways) would be in Broad Gauge. This would include completion of the pending shelf of new line projects of 11985 kms. More than 30,000 kms of route would be of double/multiple lines. Electrification of 14,000 kms of routes would take the total length of electrified route to 33,000 kms. This would include all inter- metro links and the other busy corridors.

Several areas currently identified for execution through PPP such as redevelopment/development of world-class stations, high-speed
corridors, setting up of Multi-modal Logistics Parks, Kisan Vision projects, expansion and management of the extensive network of Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs) and big infrastructure projects like new lines and Dedicated Freight Corridors, rolling-stock manufacturing units, Multi-functional Complexes at stations and port connectivity projects would need to be developed and awarded on a mission mode. To be able to do so, Railways would have set up dedicated project organizations who would work with model documents and streamlined procedure within the framework determined by Government of India.

Attainment of the goals in Vision would require a categorical commitment on the part of Government to ear-mark and ensure a steady-flow of financial support to the programme. This should be ideally in the form of an with budgetary commitment to the tune of
approximately, 5,00,000 crore spread over next 10 years. An amount of roughly Rs. 1,00,000 crore of the ADRF could be set aside to clear the pending backlog of socially desirable New Lines and Gauge Conversion projects as a one-time outright grant.
7.2 Budgetary disbursement from the ARDF needs to be front-loaded as a high-growth strategy would necessitate investment in capacity augmentation immediately while the take-off to high-growth and consequently, generation of internal surplus could take at least three years to materialize. During this period, the impact of the implementation of 6th Pay Commission would be fully absorbed and preparatory work to develop and bid out big-scale PPP projects would have been completed to allow a gradual phasing down of the budgetary contribution.

ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS (New Lines)

5 ECoR 1997-98 Angul-Sukinda Road Orissa (Length = 98.76kms) (Latest anticipated cost =344 crores)  (Balance fund required to complete = 323.13 crores)
6 ECoR 1996-97 Haridaspur-Paradeep Orissa 82 594 496
7 ECoR 1994-95 Khurda Road-Bolangir Orissa 289 700 622.26
8 ECoR 1993-94 Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh Orissa 56 170 84.69
9 ECoR 2003-04 Talcher-Bimlagarh Orissa 154 810.78 782.8

 Gauge Conversion

2 ECoR 1997-98 Naupada-Gunupur Orissa, Andhra 90 168.88 19.79
Pradesh

31 SER 1995-96 Rupsa-Bangriposi Orissa 90 137.56 22.14

Doubling

4 ECoR 2009-10 Brundamal-Jharsuguda-Flyover Orissa 6.6 38.44 38.44
connection for joining down line
5 ECoR 2003-04 Cuttack-Barang Orissa 12.3 178.98 55
6 ECoR 2005-06 Jharsuguda-Rengali Orissa 25.96 150 119.55
7 ECoR 2003-04 Khurda-Barang 3rd line Orissa 35 207 65
8 ECoR 2006-07 Kottavalasa-Simhachalam Andhra Pradesh 16.69 94.73 75.22
North 4th line
9 ECoR 2007-08 Raipur-Titlagarh Orissa, 203 614.35 548.35
Chhattisgarh
10 ECoR 1999-00 Rajatgarh-Barang Orissa 29.32 242.87 76.51
11 ECoR 2002-03 Sambalpur-Rengali Orissa 22.7 106.54 23.12
12 ECoR 2006-07 Sambalpur-Titlagarh Orissa 182 474.25 399.25

86 SER 2008-09 Banspani-Jaruli Orissa 9 90.88 89.82
87 SER 2007-08 Barbil-Barajamda Orissa 10 50.01 31.3
88 SER 2007-08 Bimlagarh-Dumitra Orissa 18.3 99.01 92.04

92 SER 2006-07 Padapahar-Banspani Orissa, Jharkhand 28 129.74 26.38

 List of Surveys (for new lines)

203 Bargarh-Nawapara Road Orissa 136
204 Extension of Rupsa-Bangriposi to Gurumahishani Orissa 42
205 Jeypore – Navarangpur Orissa 38
206 Jeypore-Kottametta Orissa 148
207 Jeypore-Malkangiri Orissa 130
208 Phulbani – Berhampur Orissa 170
209 Puri-Konark Orissa 35
210 Talcher station to Talcher-Sambalpur line Orissa 7
211 Talcher/Hindol Rd. – Berhampur/Gopalpur Orissa 293
212 Gunupur-Theruvali Orissa 76
213 Raipur-Jharsuguda via Khartapalan, Baloda Bazar, Batgaon and Sarangarh Orissa, Chhatisgarh 310

 List of Surveys (for doubling)

37 Bhadrak-Nergundi 3rd line Orissa 105

38 Khurda Road-Puri (Delang -Puri) Orissa 29
39 Sambalpur-Talcher Orissa 168
40 Koraput-Kirandul (256 km) Orissa, Chhatisgarh 150 

Plan of Action: Short-term and Long-term

The following strategies will be adopted to attain the goals outlined in Chapter-V.

Infrastructure

a) In the short to medium term, the emphasis would be to remove bottlenecks and create capacity quickly. This would be achieved by providing freight bypasses in the large cities, by identifying and completing traffic facility works such as splitting of block sections, removal of conflicting movements and improvement of terminal facilities etc. Simultaneously, effort would be directed towards opening alternate routes to the busy routes through gauge conversion or by closing missing links, if any. In the long run segregation of passenger and freight routes on HDN and substantial segregation on most of the busy routes would be the goal. Dedicated freight corridors and speed raising projects on the passenger corridors would be completed in a time-bound manner.
b) Project execution capability would be strengthened.
c) Port connectivity works would be taken up on priority in partnership with ports and other major users.
d) A non-lapsable dedicated fund will be set up to fund new line projects and wipe out the entire throw forward of new line projects. A mechanism for mobilizing the support of State Governments towards capital costs and sharing of operational losses will be institutionalized.
e) Connectivity projects to the North-East (new line and gauge conversion) and J&K (new line) would be accorded priority. All state capitals would be connected by rail.
f) Segregations between commuter and non-commuter lines in large cities with population exceeding one million shall be achieved by partnership with state governments and city authorities.
g) All construction projects would be executed by use of modern technology and construction equipment. Emphasis would be to create maintenance-free, economic and durable assets. Mechanized maintenance would be adopted to maintain the health of the track assets and provide reliable, uninterrupted service.
h) PPP will be used for efficient execution of projects especially in areas like construction of world-class stations, multi-modal logistics parks, cold-chain facilities and connectivity to ports/industrial clusters.

Many of them raised various Railways related issue. MPs Bhakta Das and Sanjay Bhoi raised the issue about a medical college and a national university in Bhawanipatna. Following are news items from Dharitri and Samaja on this.

Following is an op-ed piece from Samaja on the Railways issue.

The link http://www.rvnl.org/project/project_desc.php?id=74 has the following.

This is the latest addition to the list of RVNL projects. (15 of 60 projects in that list involve Orissa.)  It is listed as a port connectivity (PC) project. Among the various proposed ports in that area, Dhamra port is closest to be operational. This link will shorten Rupsa-Chakulia distance from 167 kms to 125 kms. More importantly it will bypass the busy Kharagpur junction and provide an alternative path to Tatanagar. It will also provide a bypass of the area that sometimes gets flooded by the Subarnarekha river.

The following map illustrates the area. (Thanks to Samit for permitting to use this map fragment from his book.)

The following is from SER’s Kharagpur division map.

The complete list of 15 Orissa related projects listed at http://www.rvnl.org/project/project.php are: 

1. (11) KHARAGPUR (NIMPURA) – BHUBANESWAR (GQ electrification – completed)
2. (12) BHUBANESWAR – KOTTAVALASA ELECT (GQ electrification – completed)
3. (14) TALCHAR-CUTTACK-PARADEEP DOUBLING WITH 2ND BRIDGE ON RIVERS BIRUPA AND MAHANADI (GQ doubling completed)
4. (15) DAITARI – BANSPANI NEW LINE (Port connectivity completed)
5. (19) ANGUL – SUKINDA NEW LINE (Post connectivity – under development)
6. (20) JAKHPURA- HARIDASPUR 3RD LINE DOUBLING (Port connectivity – recently sanctioned)
7. (26) RAJATGARH – BARANG DOUBLING (GQ – work in progress)
8. (27) CUTTACK – BARANG DOUBLING (GQ – work in progress)
9. (28) KHURDA ROAD – BARANG 3RD LINE DOUBLING (GQ – work in progress)
10. (44) HARIDASPUR – PARADEEP NEW LINE (Port connectivity – work in progress)
11. (53) TOMKA -BANASPANI – RE (Port connectivity, electrification, recently sanctioned)
12. (54) SAMBALPUR – TITLAGARH – DOUBLING (Port connectivity, recently sanctioned)
13. (55) RAIPUR – TITLAGARH – DOUBLING (Port connectivity, recently sanctioned)
14. (60) BANASPANI – JAKHPURA – DOUBLING (Port connectivity, electrification, unsanctioned)
15. (63) BURAMARA – CHAKULIA – NEW LINE WITH UPGRADING OF RUPSA – BURAMARA (port connectivity, new line, under development)

 With the Gopalpur port getting ready, RVNL should be soon taking up the Gunupur-Theruvali line. 

Please see below. I wonder why this is not being pursued?

Following is an excerpt from an article in Indian Express.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, gently, turned the heat on absentee Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, asking her for a status report on the Railways in a fortnight.

 Forwarding a note by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on an assessment of the problems at Indian Railways and suggestions for a turnaround, Singh’s attempt seems to be two-fold: one, to prod Banerjee to give time to her Ministry and two, to get things moving in the Railways, so crucial to the country’s double-digit growth ambitions. …

Drawing a parallel with China, the Plan panel said that between 1990 and 2007, Indian Railways added only about 960 km while China added 20,000 km. China plans to add another 40,000 km in the next 10 years while India is currently doing around 250-300 km a year. “There can be no doubt that we should aim at adding 1,000 km a year for the next 10-12 years totaling 10,000 km of additional route length,” it said.

I hope Indian Railways figures out a way to add 10,000 kms of additional route length during the next 10 years. That would increase the chances of long languishing projects like the Khurda-Balangir line and the Talcher-Bimlagarh line being completed within that time.

Following is from an ad in Dharitri.

The following is from http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/TAG0910/Index.htm.