Bhubaneswar: Odisha was allocated a total fund of Rs 10,536 Crore today in Union Interim Budget 2024-25 under proposed financial plans of ‘Viksit Bharat’ to take up several railway projects in the State.

Worth mentioning, works of around 473-kilometre railway lines are being carried out in Odisha every day. The increased funds will help expedite the development projects. Bande Bharat metro trains are to be introduced in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Puri, which will be later extended to other cities.

A budgetary provision of Rs 2.52 Lakh Crore has been made for the Railway Ministry. This allocation figure compares to the Rs 2.4 Lakh Crore figure that was allocated as capex for the FY 2023-24. Out of the total Rs 2.52 Lakh Crore, about Rs 52 Thousand Crore was allocated for new railway projects in the country.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced three special corridors (such as Energy, Minerals, and Cement) in the railway sector. Implementation of the three major economic railway corridors aims at enhancing logistics efficiency and reducing costs.