Giving a push to private investment in Indian Railways, the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) under the Ministry of Finance, earlier in August, approved six railway lines spanning 647 km along freight corridors. These are to be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) — similar to the model used in the highways sector wherein the government and the private builder split the project costs and risks.
Of the six proposed railway projects, four are in Odisha: 49.58-km Balaram-Putgadia-Tentuloi (Inner Corridor), 112.56-km Budhapank-Tentuloi-Luburi (Outer Corridor), 101.26-km Jajpur-Keonjhar Road-Aradi-Dhamara Port and 48.96-km Tikiri Station to Waltair Bauxite Mines. The other two projects are the 207.80-km
