Indian Railways looks to exit Bhubaneswar railway revamp due to delays

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has urged the Odisha government to revise the conditions laid down in the agreement signed in September 2019, so that the Indian Railways can carry out its part of the development work of the Bhubaneswar railway station alone. Miffed over delay in execution of the development work with the State government, the Indian Railways wants to work alone. The development of the railway station into a world-class multimodal hub was to be done by the Bhubaneswar development authority (BDA) and ECoR at Rs 910 crore, as per the agreement. While, under the Smart City project, the Railways was to spend about Rs 70 crore for adding one platform and two more tracks, the government was to build the multimodal center at an expected cost of Rs 840 crore. The cost involved Rs 8 crore for design by Surbana Jurong, a Singapore-based firm. However, Railways wants to back out of the project because of the slow progress of work on the State part. Even as the cost increased to Rs 1,075 crore, no tangible development has been done. Initially planned in 2015, the project got the nod of the government in 2016. But it took three years to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU), and certainly, no work has been done even after two years. The hub was to be built in 30 months, but no tender has been issued even after 24 months, as per the pact. More delay would also lead to cost increase and this is why railways have chosen to do the development of the railway portion on its own, said a senior railway official. The ECoR proposal to revise the MoU is under consideration by the State government, said Suresh Mahapatra, Chief Secretary. Image Source Also read: Redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station to be inaugurated this week Also read: Indian Railways allots redevelopment of 49 railway stations to RLDA