Bhubaneswar, Mar 11: A total Rs 839 crore has been spent so far on the ongoing Talcher-Bimalagarh rail project , said Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. 

Responding to a question raised in the Parliament  by Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo and his Sundargarh counterpart Jual Oram Goyal, the Railway Minister briefed the status of the ongoing rail project. 

He said 150 kilometres of the proposed railway track under Talcher-Bimalagarh project is scheduled to be completed by 2022 at a cost of Rs 1928 crore. As of now, Rs 839 crore has been spent on the railway line. Subsequently, Rs 140 crore has been sanctioned for it in the 2020-21 budget. However, almost 20-kilometre railway track within Talcher and Sunakhani has been completed in the first phase. Construction work for another 23.5 kilometre will begin soon, Goyal added. 

On the delayed Angul-Sukinda loop line, Goyal stated that the completion of the rail project depends on the efficacy of the state government in land acquisition, forest clearance, compensation and rehabilitation process. Meanwhile, the executing agency Angul-Sukinda Rail Ltd. has been asked to complete the loop by June 2022, Goyal said.