Stage seems to be set for operationalisation of SCoR zone

The operationalisation of the long-awaited South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam seems to be imminent with the Railway Board appointing Sandeep Mathur as the General Manager.

Mathur, who is now working as Principal Executive Director (Signal Modernisation) in the Railway Board will be the first General Manager of the zone carved out of East Coast Railway (ECoR) and South Central Railway (SCR). The new zone will encompass Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Guntakal divisions after creating Rayagada under Visakhapatnam (elsewhile Waltair) as a new division. Visakhapatnam, one of the largest revenue earning divisions in the railways was originally planned to be abolished by merging parts of it in Vijayawada and Rayagada divisions. However, following an emphatic demand by Andhra Pradesh Government, the Visakhapatnam division was retained after leaving some parts like Araku with ECoR.

The zone demand, which was accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run up to the general elections in 2019, was part of restructuring to strengthen logistics, spur industrial growth and meet the aspirations of the locals.

The undivided Visakhapatnam division has surpassed the annual revenue of Rs.10,000 crore in 2023-24 by handling a freight of 25 million tonnes registering over 10% growth over the previous year. The division had ferried 27.86 million passengers during 2022-23.

A senior official of ECoR told the Bizz Buzz on Friday that with the naming of the General Manager, the stage for operationalising the zone is set.

Tenders have already been issued for construction of a nine-floor building with associated facilities for the General Manager's office at a cost of Rs.149.16 crore. The State Government has already handed over 53 acres at Mudasarlova for construction of the zone's office complex. Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways Chairman and Anakapalle MP C.M. Ramesh said the creation of the zone fulfills the long-cherished dreams of the locals.

The Centre made an allocation of Rs.17 crore for the zone in the 2020-21 budget, nothing moved positively towards creation of the zone. After the TDP-led NDA formed the government in the State, it gained momentum/

"From the beginning, we have been insisting on operationalisation of the zone pending completion of the constructions for the zonal offices. The existing Divisional Railway Manager's office should be upgraded as the General Manager's office pending completion of the constructions," Railway Zone Sadhana Porata Samiti convenor J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy told Bizz Buzz.

The foundation for the administrative buildings was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Visakhapatnam on January 8. The proposed establishment of an integrated steel plant by ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel (India) at Anakapalle and India's first green hydrogen hub by NTPC Green Energy Limited at Pudimadaka totalling an investment of over Rs.2 lakh crore is expected to contribute heavily to the new zone's revenue.