Naveen writes to Union Railway Minister seeking necessary approval to start passenger traffic on Haridaspur-Paradip new line

Bhubaneswar, July 28: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today wrote to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal seeking necessary approval to start passenger traffic on Haridaspur-Paradip new BG line. “The project has taken extremely long time for commissioning but with continuous monitoring, it has finally come to commissioning stage. The 82 km new line is connecting Kendrapada District to Railway map for the first time. As connecting all unconnected districts through Railways is a stated policy, my Government invested in equity as sought by Railways, to make this project economically viable,” read the letter of the CM. This railway project is being executed through a SPV company called HPRCL, in which Govt of Odisha, Ministry of Shipping and Indian Railways have similar share in equity in the SPV. “While most work for commissioning of the line is now completed, running of passenger traffic over this new line, to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Kendrapada District, is required to be finalized now. The SPV Company, as per requirement, has already recommended to Ministry of Railways for approval for running Passenger trains. It is important to understand the connectivity needs of people and especially for people of Kendrapada District, who have not seen a passenger train as yet. This is the reason why Odisha Government has waived off all Stamp Duty, Registration Fee and also Premium on land, along with direct monetary equity support to this Railway project,” added the letter. The CM further requested the Union Minister to accord necessary approvals and certifications as required, so that a passenger train can be flagged off on this new line at the earliest, preferably in the month of August 2020.