Railways signs MoU with Odisha to develop Bhubaneswar station

The Railways and Odisha government on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for redevelopment of the Bhubaneswar railway station at an investment of Rs 130 crore. According to the MoU, a new station building and two new railway lines with platforms will be developed in an integrated manner over the land belonging to the Railways and the Odisha government.

Of the total investment of Rs 130 crore, the Railways will spend Rs 70 crore while the state's share will be Rs 60 crore. The proposed station building will have G+5 floors and of which, G+2 floors will be earmarked for the use by the Railways. The area earmarked for the Railways will be 1.74 lakh sqft.

The Railways will spend on the construction of two additional lines with one platform, full cover shed, an extension of the foot over bridges and all modern passenger amenities. The state government will spend around Rs 60 crore for construction of new station building.

Apart from the MoU for the redevelopment of the station, the state government has also planned to develop area adjoining the Bhubaneswar station as Railway Station Multi-modal Hub (RSMH) project under Smart City Mission of the Centre. The estimated investment in the RSMH is Rs 840 crore which is being taken up by the Odisha government through the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik graced the occasion through a video meeting from Loka Seva Bhawan here while Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan were present in the MoU signing ceremony at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. Describing the development as a historic occasion, Patnaik said, "It is one of the biggest milestones to transform the Bhubaneswar station into world-class railway station with a multi-modal hub." Divisional Railway Manager of Khurda Road Railway Division Sashikant Singh signed the MoU with BDA Vice-Chairman PC Choudhury.

An official release issued by the Chief Minister's Office said that the BDA has already roped in a Singapore- based international design consultant Subarna Jurong for the RSMH project.

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