Jai Jagannatha,

Hon’ble Prime Minister

Hon’ble Union Ministers

Senior Officials of Railways Ministry and Odisha Govt

and Dear Brothers and Sisters

 

Greetings to all. Happy to say, Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express for Odisha. The foundation stones for redevelopment of Puri and Cuttack railway stations were also laid. 

New railway line on Angul-Sukinda route, doubling of Sambalpur-Titilagarh line along with two rail lines, and 100% electrification work were dedicated to the people. I thank the Hon’ble Prime Minister on behalf of the people of Odisha.

 

We are developing Puri city as an International Heritage Site due to which a lot of infra development work is going on.

 

Puri is the first city in the country to implement the drink-from-tap project completely.

 

As you all know, my Government has been a strong votary of seamless connectivity and rapid transport infrastructure development. Aligning with this vision Odisha has been a pioneer to support Rail development through financial participation in railway projects with free land and upto 50 percent project construction cost. 

We believe that connectivity is a key driver of overall developments – be it industrial development, trade, commerce, investment and promotion of tourism. 

 

We are also promoting road and air transportation in a very big way. Happy to inform that we have commenced international air connectivity to Dubai and shortly to Singapore and Bangkok. We have been also supporting inter-state air-connectivity. 

 

I would take this opportunity to request Hon'ble Prine Minister for introduction of a Vande Bharat Express train between Puri and Rourkela connecting Sambalpur and another connecting Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad which will facilitate faster movement of passengers between these important cities, for the benefit of our aspiring people.  

 

As the event is being flagged off from Puri, I would like to reiterate sanctioning of Puri-Konark new railway line which will connect two iconic marvels of our state. State of Odisha offers 50% of construction cost and entire land cost for the project, making it extremely profitable for Railways. 

 

As you know, Odisha has always been very proactive to support railway projects in the state. People of the state have also willingly pledged their invaluable land for the railway development, hoping that railway projects will offer them many new economic avenues. 

 

I would therefore seek early introduction of passenger services in both Angul-Sukinda line and Haridaspur-Paradip line to meet the aspirations of the people of these districts.

 

I would express gratitude on behalf of people of my state to Hon'ble Prime Minister for the Vande Bharat express and also for dedicating other development works of Railways in Odisha  today.  

 

Thank You

Bande Utkala Janani