ECoR GM inspects Angul-Sukinda rail project

Bhubaneswar: East Coast Railway (ECoR) General Manager Manoj Sharma inspected the Baghuapal-Budhapank Railway Section of the Angul-Sukinda Rail Line project today.

Also present during the inspection were senior officials from ECoR headquarters and Divisional Railway Manager Rinkesh Roy, Khurda Road Division, as well as officials from Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL).

During the inspection, Sharma reviewed the facilities and related infrastructure works and advised officials to take necessary steps to ensure that train traffic is not hampered.

It is worth noting that the 92.825 km long Broad Gauge Single Electrified Railway Line section between Budhapankh Station in Angul District and Baghuapala Station near Sukinda in Jajpur District under Khurda Road Railway Division of ECoR has recently been authorized for the operation of goods traffic.

The Angul-Sukinda Railway Ltd. (ASRL) is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) incorporated on February 20, 2009, by the Ministry of Railways through RVNL for the construction and maintenance of the Broad Gauge Single Railway Line between Budhapank Station (Angul) and Baghuapala Station (Sukinda).

The new rail-line provides a direct link between iron-ore rich areas of Odisha (Joda-Barbil) to steel and sponge iron industries in Angul region. It also offers a shorter and congestion-free alternative route between the coal mining belt of Talcher to coal-based thermal power plants in Kalinganagar Industrial areas.

This will also be in close proximity to the Steel Plants in Angul region, NALCO, and a cluster of industries located in Kalinganagar areas of Odisha. Dispatch of finished products of steel plants from Kalinganagar complex to destinations in Mumbai and Delhi via Talcher-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda will also be shorter and cheaper via the new alignment as compared with the route via Kharagpur.

The project is being funded through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model as envisaged in the Concession Agreement signed between the Ministry of Railways and ASRL on May 14, 2010. The funding pattern for this project was through equity-participation from Stakeholders and debt raised from the market.