Bhubaneswar: The state cabinet today decided to give land free of cost for the Khurda-Balangir railway project. The land will be given in the 172 villages of Nayagarh, Boudh, Sonepur and Balangir districts in favour of the Union ministry of railways. It will facilitate the construction of Dasapalla-Balangir new broad-gauge railway line.
This was decided at a cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Several other major decisions, including rejecting the proposal to appoint a pro-vice-chancellor in the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), were also taken at the meeting.
The raiway project was sanctioned in 1996-97, but it moved at a snail's pace ever since and it is yet to be completed. To expedite the work, the state government has agreed in principle to provide land free of cost to the Indian Railways.
The Centre sanctioned Rs 625 crore for the project last year. The railways plan to complete the project by March, 2021.
The state cabinet has also decided to utilise the land allotted to the Tata's Gopalpur project in a more purposeful way. As per the cabinet decision, out of the 2,970 acres handed over to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) for establishment of steel plant at Gopalpur in Ganjam, Tata would utilise 1,235 acres as a special economic zone (SEZ).
The Tata Steel Special Economic Zone Limited (TSSEZL) has been allowed to utilise the balance 1,735 acres of land for setting up a private industrial park as domestic tariff area.
The state cabinet also decided not to go ahead with the appointment of a pro-vice-chancellor at the Biju Patnaik University of Technology. Earlier, the government had decided to appoint a pro-vice-chancellor and passed a bill in the Assembly in 2016 in this regard. But the governor had objected to it and sent back the file for reconsideration. After careful consideration, the state government decided not to go head with the appointment of pro-vice-chancellor.
In yet another major decision, the state government decided to give 181.77 acres for establishment of a permanent campus of IIM, Sambalpur. The government would forgo Rs 2.35 crore for this purpose.
