Bhubaneswar: The Centre has allocated a record sum for the railway sector in Odisha in the Union Budget for 2024-25 financial year.

This was revealed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a presser in New Delhi today.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 2.62 lakh crore for the Rail Ministry in the Budget, said Vaishnaw, a Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha.

The Union Government has made an allocation of Rs 10,586 crore for rail sector in Odisha, he added.

“This is a record allocation for Odisha in the railway sector. The state had been allocated on an average around Rs 800 crore for the sector in a year during the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. The BJP-led NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made 12 times more allocation for Odisha in this year’s Budget,” said the Railway Minister.

At present, altogether 40 rail projects are going in Odisha and the Centre is spending Rs 54,434 crore on them.

The Railways has completed 100 per cent route electrification in Odisha. Besides, as many as 59 railway stations in the state, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri are being developed as Amrit stations by the ministry, said Vaishnaw.

The Railway Minister claimed that as many as 427 rail flyovers and under-bridges have been constructed in Odisha since 2014.

On an average 53 kms of new rail tracks were laid in Odisha in a year during the UPA rule at the Centre from 2009-14. However, at least 183 kms of new tracks were laid in the state in a year during BJP rule at the Centre from 2014-24, he said.