Lok Sabha Question No. 6098 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: Railway Project between Talcher-Gopalpur
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Rudra Narayan Pany

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6098

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026

## RAILWAY PROJECT BETWEEN TALCHER-GOPALPUR

## †6098. SHRI RUDRA NARAYAN PANY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government is aware that a railway project from Talcher (coal-city) to Gopalpur (port-city) in the Gulf of Bengal is pending for a long time and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  the  effective  steps  are  likely  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  for  its completion; and
- (c) whether the proposal from Talcher (coal-city) to Gopalpur (port-city) via Hindol  is  likely  to  be  reconsidered  by  the  Government  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (c):  Talcher  is  already  connected  to  Jagannathpur  (Gopalpur)  via Hindol  Road,  Rajathgarh,  Bhubaneswar,  Khurda  Road  on  the  existing Railway  network.  However,  to  further  augment  the  connectivity  following works/surveys have been taken up:-

|   S. No. | Name of Project                                                                     | Status                                                           |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Budhapank - Salegaon via Rajatgarh 3 rd and 4 th Line (85 KM)                       | 57 KM commissioned. Works have been taken up in balance sections |
|        2 | Nergundi - Vizianagaram 3 rd Line (385 KM)                                          | Works have been taken up.                                        |
|        3 | Rajathgarh - Kaipadar Road New Line (93 KM) by passing Bhubaneshwar and Khurda Road | DPR prepared                                                     |

|   S. No. | Name of Project                                                                     | Status         |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|
|        4 | Haridaspur Jn. to Nergundi Jn. & Cuttack Jn. to Vizianagaram Jn. 4 th line (440 KM) | DPR prepared   |
|        5 | Angul - Hindol - Nayagarh New Railway Line (120 KM)                                 | FLS sanctioned |
|        6 | Talcher - Gopalpur New Line (282 KM)                                                | FLS sanctioned |

After preparation of DPR, sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog,  Ministry of Finance  etc.  As sanctioning  of  projects  is  a  continuous  and  dynamic  process,  exact timelines cannot be fixed.

## ODISHA

Railway Budget:

Budget allocation  in  the  recent  years  has  increased  significantly.  Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                         |
|----------|--------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 838 Cr./year                 |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 10,599 Cr. (Nearly 13 times) |

## Track Construction:

The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under:

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks per year   |
|----------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 267 Km                   | 53 Km                                          |
| 2014-25  | 2,150 Km                 | 195 Km (More than 3.5 times)                   |

Project Sanctioned:

As on 01.04.2025, 49 projects (19 New Lines and 30 Doubling), of a total length of 4,010 Km, costing ₹ 67,496 crore, falling fully/partly in Odisha, are sanctioned, out of which 1,429 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure  of  ₹28,043  crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March'  2025.  The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No of sanctioned Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (in Km)   | Length Commissioned till Mar'25 (in Km)   | Total Exp upto Mar'25 (₹ in Cr)   |
|--------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                          19 | 1,544                           | 256                                       | 6,270                             |
| Doubling/Multi- tracking |                          30 | 2,466                           | 1,173                                     | 21,773                            |
| Total                    |                          49 | 4,010                           | 1,429                                     | 28,043                            |

Recently Completed Projects:

Details  of  some  of  the  recently  completed  projects  falling  fully/partly  in Odisha are as under:

|   S. No. | Name of Project                                                        | Cost (In Crores of ₹)   |
|----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
|        1 | Daitari-Banspani New Line and Jakhapura- Haridaspur 3 rd Line (179 Km) | 1,317                   |
|        2 | MCL siding from Jharsuguda - Sardega New Line (53 Km)                  | 1,598                   |
|        3 | Haridaspur-Paradeep New Line (82 Km)                                   | 2,397                   |
|        4 | Angul-Sukinda New Line (104 Km)                                        | 2,834                   |
|        5 | Champa-Jharsuguda 3 rd Line (152 Km)                                   | 1,227                   |
|        6 | Sambalpur-Titlagarh Doubling (182 Km)                                  | 2,262                   |
|        7 | Rourkela-Jharsuguda 3 rd Line (101 Km)                                 | 1,313                   |
|        8 | Banspani-Daitari-Tomka-Jakhapura Doubling (164 Km)                     | 1,827                   |
|        9 | Sambalpur-Talcher Doubling (174 Km)                                    | 1,539                   |
|       10 | Raipur - Titlagarh Doubling (203 Km)                                   | 1,171                   |
|       11 | Jharsuguda-Sardega Doubling (50 Km)                                    | 3,200                   |

## Ongoing Projects:

Further, some of the main projects falling fully/partly in Odisha which have been taken up are as under:

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                                       | Total Cost (In Crores of ₹)   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
|       1 | Junagarh-Nabarangpur New Line (116 Km)                                | 2,865                         |
|       2 | Nabarangpur-Jeypore New Line (41 Km)                                  | 748                           |
|       3 | Jeypore-Malkangiri New Line (130 Km)                                  | 2,344                         |
|       4 | Malkangiri - Pandurangapuram New Line (174 Km)                        | 3,592                         |
|       5 | Buramara-Chakulia New Line (60 Km)                                    | 1,459                         |
|       6 | Gunupur-Therubali New Line (74 Km)                                    | 1,166                         |
|       7 | Puri - Konark New Line (32 Km)                                        | 492                           |
|       8 | Badampahar-Kendujhargarh New Line (82 Km)                             | 1,876                         |
|       9 | Bangriposi-Gorumahisani New Line (86 Km)                              | 2,269                         |
|      10 | Bargarh Road-Nawapara Road New Line (138 Km)                          | 2,622                         |
|      11 | Vizianagram-Titlagarh 3 rd Line (265 Km)                              | 6,996                         |
|      12 | Jarapada- Budhapank 3 rd & 4 th Line with flyover at Talcher (101 Km) | 810                           |
|      13 | Budhapank- Salegaon via Rajatgarh 3 rd & 4 th Line (170 Km)           | 2,023                         |
|      14 | Nergundi - Vizianagaram 3 rd Line (385 Km)                            | 4,963                         |
|      15 | Kottavalasa-Koraput Doubling (189 Km)                                 | 2,500                         |
|      16 | Koraput-Singapur Road Doubling (165 Km)                               | 2,362                         |
|      17 | Jagdalpur-Koraput Doubling (107 Km)                                   | 1,547                         |
|      18 | Jharsuguda-Bilaspur 4 th line (206 Km)                                | 2,596                         |
|      19 | Bondamunda-Ranchi Doubling (159 Km)                                   | 3,029                         |
|      20 | Narayangarh-Bhadrak 3 rd line (153 Km)                                | 2,136                         |
|      21 | Bhadrak-Nergundi 3 rd Line (92 Km)                                    | 1,284                         |

During last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current Financial Year i.e. 2025-26, total 79 Nos. of Surveys (31 New Line, 48 Doubling) falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Odisha  having  a  total  length  of  5,436  Km have been sanctioned.

Sanction  of  any  railway  project  depends  upon  many  parameters/factors which include the following:

-  Anticipated traffic projections and Remunerativeness of the proposed route
-  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project
-  Connection of missing links and providing additional route
-  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
-  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,
-  Railway's operational requirements
-  Socio-economic considerations
-  Overall availability of funds

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:

-  Land acquisition
-  Forest clearance
-  Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
-  Law and order situation in the area of project site
-  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc.

All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

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