A budget of Rs 950 crore has been allocated for the 150 km long Talcher-Bimalgarh new railway project passing through Angul, Deogarh and Sundergarh districts of Odisha in the financial year 2026-27. The project was included in the 2003-04 railway budget with an initial outlay of Rs 727 crore. Currently, the latest expenditure of the project has increased to Rs 3,390 crore while Rs 1,901 crore has been spent till March 2026. Railway, Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnab gave this information in a written reply to an unsolicited question in the Rajya Sabha.
The Minister said that the implementation of the project has been affected due to resistance in land acquisition and court cases. Out of the total 863 hectares of land required for the project, 756 hectares of land has been acquired. It includes 342 hectares of private land, 269 hectares of forest land and 146 hectares of government land. The remaining 107 hectares of land is under acquisition process.
Regarding the progress of the project, according to the ministry, the Talcher-Khamar (48 km) railway line has already started running. Construction work is underway on available land in Khamar-Golabandh, Golabandh-Mahuldiha and Meeuldiha-Bimalgarh sections. Construction of minor bridges, railway overbridges (ROBs) and railway underbridges (RUBs) on these stretches is also progressing at various stages. Necessary forest and wildlife clearances have already been obtained for the Meuldiha-Bimalgarh stretch.
However, the Ministry of Railways has not specified any timeline for the implementation of the entire project, stating that the completion depends on factors such as land acquisition, forest clearance, transfer of utilities, regulatory approvals, geographical situation and law enforcement situation.
The Ministry of Railways has further informed that a budget of Rs. 10,928 crore has been arranged for the financial year 2026-27 for railway infrastructure and security works in Odisha. During the period 2009-14, the average annual budget allocation was Rs 838 crore, now it has increased more than 13 times.
