Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi stated on Wednesday that the Union Cabinet’s clearance for multiple railway track-laying projects will significantly bolster connectivity across the state’s in coastal and industrialised districts.
In a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, CM Majhi expressed his gratitude that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sanctioned the key rail development schemes.
The Cabinet committee had earlier in the day greenlit four multi-tracking projects valued at approximately Rs 9,450 crore, which will expand the region’s railway network by a total of 410 kilometers.
The sanctioned projects include 173-km fourth line connecting Kharagpur and Bhadrak (Ranital) spanning West Bengal and Odisha, a 75-km fourth line between Bhadrak and Haridaspur in Odisha, a 90-km third and fourth track on the Gummidipundi–Gudur stretch across Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, alongside a 72-km third and fourth line along the Cuttack–Paradeep (Badabandha) route in Odisha.
The Chief Minister highlighted that the approval of these projects marks a major milestone for Odisha’s rail infrastructure, serving to ease congestion along critical freight and passenger corridors while drastically improving transport links in key industrial and coastal regions.
Beyond elevating track capacity to streamline the shipment of vital economic goods like coal, iron ore, steel, cement, and food grains, these rail projects will also simplify access to prominent cultural and eco-tourism hubs, including Bhitarkanika National Park, Chandipur Beach, Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, the Buddhist site at Lalitgiri, alongside the Dhabaleswar, Sarala, and Gada Kujanga Jagannath temples, CM Majhi noted in his letter.
“This will give a fresh impetus to tourism, pilgrimage, and local livelihoods across the region,” Majhi said, adding that the enhanced connectivity to thousands of villages and lakhs of citizens is a testament to the Centre’s continued commitment to Odisha’s development under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
The CM also thanked the Prime Minister and Railway Minister for directing this significant investment toward Odisha’s rail expansion and long-term economic prosperity.
According to an official statement by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the four projects cover eight districts across the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The proposed multi-tracking projects will enhance connectivity to approximately 6,448 villages, which have a population of about 60 lakh.
