Railways, Odisha sign MoU for Cost Sharing of Nabarangpur, Malkangiri Rail Lines

In a historical initiative to connect railway lines to Nabarangpur and Malkangiri districts of Odisha, the Ministry of Railways on Monday signed MoU with Government of Odisha for cost sharing of two new railway line projects.

The Mou was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and , Chief Minister of Odisha  Naveen Patnaik. The signatories of the MoU were Shri SC Jain, ED Works from Ministry of Railways and Shri Sanjeev Rastogi, Principal Secretary, Government of Odisha .

Accoding to the MoU, Odisha will bear entire land cost and 50% cost of construction of Jeyore- Nabarangpur (38) km, and 25% of total cost of Jeypore-Malkangiri Rail Line Projects.

Notably, the two new line projects viz. Jeypore- Nabarangpur and Jeypore- Malkangiri was included by Indian Railways in the Railway budget 2016-17 subject to requisite approvals from the Odisha government.

Speaking on the occasion Suresh Prabhu said that Odisha is a focus state for Indian Railways. The speed of implementation of projects will take Odisha ahead in rail connectivity. Odisha has minerals, tourism potential, etc. But development is lacking due to lack of connectivity.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that the two projects viz, Jeypore – Malkangiri and Jeypore – Nabarangpur will serve the most backward, Naxal affected and tribal areas of the state. Odisha Government will be providing land free of cost for these projects.

On this occasion, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Jual Oram, Odisha Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Members of Parliament from Odisha Balabhadra Majhi, Jhina Hikaka, and MLAs Dambaru Sisa, Manas Madkami, Subash Gond and Manhar Randhari were also present.