New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sasmit Patra has urged the Centre to establish a modern Railway Wagon Technology Park at Sitalapalli in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
Raising the issue through a Special Mention in the Rajya Sabha, Dr. Patra asked the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take immediate steps to set up the state-of-the-art facility, highlighting its potential to transform the regional economy and strengthen India’s railway manufacturing capabilities.
He said the proposed park would generate thousands of jobs for local youth, boost self-reliance in wagon production, and spur the growth of ancillary industries, thereby accelerating overall development in southern Odisha.
The demand revives a long-pending proposal announced in the 2011–12 Railway Budget for a wagon factory near Berhampur, for which the Odisha government has already allocated land. Despite sustained follow-up over the years, the project has seen little progress.