ECoR to provide rail connectivity to Kalinga Nagar

Bhubaneswar: East Coast Railway (ECoR) is gearing up to provide better rail connectivity to Kalinga Nagar area located in Orissa’s Jajpur district to boost the industrial drive in the region which is poised to be the steel hub of the nation, attracting investment from leading domestic steel makers like Tata Steel and Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL).

“Railways will play a pivotal role in the industrial boom in Kalinga Nagar area. Rail connectivity will go a long way in determining the success of any mega industrial project and hence, accurate and specific planning of the railway element of a project should be done early”, said AK Goyal, general manager of ECoR.

Goyal indicated that most of the large projects take extra time for final implementation due to initial non-planning or non-inclusion of railway element. He was on a visit to the three railway stations in the Kalinga Nagar area- Jakhapura, Sukinda Road and Daitari recently.

Goyal took stock of the zonal railway's preparedness for the industrialisation boom in Kalinga Nagar and advised the transport planning and construction wings to gear up all resources to ensure the success of all projects in the area. The transport planning unit of ECoR would serve as the single window unit for railway projects.

Railways should be kept in the policy framework of any mega industrial project and the different steel plants and large industries should take advantage of railway infrastructure and expertise of ECoR as the zonal railway has prepared itself to handle this scenario, an ECoR release said.

Goyal’s visit to the Kalinga Nagar area saw stiff targets being set for station yard modernisation projects and also led to positive interactions and deliberations with key industrial players of the area.