Operations and maintenance pact for Angul-Sukinda rail line project

Operations and Maintenance (O&M) agreement of Angul-Sukinda rail line project has been signed between East Coast Railway and Angul-Sukinda Railway Limited (ASRL) recently.

Angul-Sukinda Railway Limited, a SPV has been incorporated by Ministry of Railway through Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) for construction and maintenance of 98.70 KM Broad Gauge (BG) single railway line between Budhapank Station (Angul District) and Baghuapal Station (near Sukinda in Jajpur District).

The new rail line will provide a direct link between iron-ore rich areas of Odisha (Joda-Barbil) to steel and sponge iron industries in Angul region. It will also provide a shorter and congestion free alternative route between coal mining belt of Talcher to coal based thermal power plant in Kalinga Nagar Industrial areas (at Sukinda).

This new line will be in close proximity to the steel plants in Angul region, NALCO and a cluster of industries located in Kalinga Nagar areas of Odisha.

The project line will also reduce the distance between Rourkela (Steel Plant) and Dhamara/Paradeep Ports. Moreover, dispatch of finished products of steel plants from Kalinga Nagar complex to destinations in Mumbai and Delhi via Talcher-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda will also be shorter and cheaper through the new alignment.

The 98.70 kms long project was sanctioned in 1998-99 and was incorporated in 2009. After the land acquisition process and other technical solutions, the project of about Rs 2,440 crore is likely to be completed by December 2022.