Odisha got better share in Railways funds allocationthan under UPA: Dharmendra

Sambalpur, Feb 15 : Indian Railways has allotted maximum amount of money to Odisha in comparision to the UPA regime, said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said.

Addressing inaugural and foundation-laying functions in Sambalpur on Thursday, Pradhan said there was a time between 2014 and 2018 when the Union railway budget allotted Rs 838 crore on an average annually which increased to Rs 4, 687 crore during the Prime Mistership of Narendra Modi.

This year the amount is the highest at Rs 6, 892 crore, he said, in an apparent reference to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s frequent allegation that Odisha is not getting its due from the Railways despite the fact that it is earning the highest revenue from the State.

Pradhan said his department has started work on the project to extract ethanol from straw in Bargarh at a project cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

Similarly work is under process to make Jharsuguda into an oil hub with Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and HPCL setting up their storage facilities to ensure fuel supply in the western region for 30 years, the Union minister said.

Besides, Pradhan added, plans are underway to augment LPG connections in Balangir and Jharsuguda with establishment of a bottling plant.

The Railways has spent Rs 8 crore to modernise the Sambalpur railway station with escalator facility and a modern food plaza. The escalator will be of much help to the ‘dibyangas’, the minister said, while expressing thanks to the Department of Railways.

Thanks are also due, he said, to the department for having allowed three new halts at Barpali, Barmul and Muribahal and running the Rajdhani Express through Sambalpur, fulfilling long-standing demands of the people.

He referred to the recent inauguration and foundation laying by Prime Minister Modi of various projects for development of Western Odisha.

“In Prime Minister’s assessment, Odisha cannot be said to have developed till Western Odisha is developed, and also it is a true fact”, Pradhan said.

Pradhan said LPG connections have been extended from 59,000 houses to             1 70,000 houses out of the total 2, 80,000 houses in Sambalpur district while Prime Minister’s Ujjwala scheme has covered 59,000 houses, giving relief to poor women.

“In two-three years, cooking gas will be supplied to houses in Sambalpur, Bargad and Deogad districts through pipe lines and Bharat Petroleum has been given this responsibility”, Pradhan said.