Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged the Centre for the introduction of new rail projects for Odisha including two new Vande Bharat trains.

Patnaik stated this during the launching of Vande Bharat Express from Puri to Kolkata, and sought the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for early implementation of the same.

Lauding the Prime Minister for launching of several railway projects in Odisha, Patnaik said that “I would take this opportunity to request Prime 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.”

Stating that the State Government is developing Puri as an international heritage centre, he said Puri is the first city in the country to have 100 percent drink from tap facility.

Dwelling on the proposed Puri airport, he said ‘Recently, I had met the Prime Minister and had a detailed discussion on the proposed Shree Jagannath Puri International Airport at Puri. We will incorporate all the suggestions given by the Hon’ble Prime Minister for making it a world class sea-side Airport.

With the cooperation and support of the PM, this airport will be ready within 3 to 4 years, he said.

Patnaik also requested for sanction to Puri-Konark new railway line which will connect two iconic marvels of our state. The State offers 50 percent of construction cost and entire land cost for the project, making it extremely profitable for Railways, he informed.

Odisha has always been very proactive in supporting 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.

The CM also requested for early introduction of passenger services in both Angul-Sukinda line and Haridaspur-Paradip line to meet the aspirations of the people of these districts.

Stating that the bullet train dream will soon be realised, he said that introduction of Vande Bharat train is one step closer towards our aspiration of Bullet trains in India.