Min. Vaishnaw: 5G network services will be available in Odisha by March’23

Bhubaneswar: The 5G network services will be available in Odisha by March 2023, Union Minister of Information Technology and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said here on Sunday.
Inaugurating India’s first indigenously designed and developed aluminum freight rake at Bhubaneswar Railway station, the minister said the 5G network will be available in eight cities of Odisha by the end of March next year
He said by the end of next year around 80 percent of the state would be covered under the 5G network.
The Union Minister said in the first phase all big cities would be covered under the 5G network and later it would be extended to small cities and rural areas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 5G service on October 1 in New Delhi.
In the beginning, 13 cities — Ahmadabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai were provided 5G service.
The Railway Minister said Bhubaneswar Railway station will be developed into a world-class railway station soon.
He said the planning and design for the renovation of Bhubaneswar Railway has been completed and the work will start soon.
The Union Minister said the construction work of the Bolangir-Khurdha railway line is going on at a very fast pace from  both

Navagraha and Bolangir sides and would be completed soon.
He said there was some problem over the 100 KM line but the state government has already given permission for it and the work will be completed in time.
Vaishnaw said the aluminum freight rake – 61 BOBRNALHSM1 – which was flagged off at Bhubaneswar Railway Station is the first of its kind in the country Indigenously developed and designed jointly by Railways, Besco Ltd Wagon Division and Hindalco.
He said it is a fully lockbolted construction with no welding on the superstructure.
Vaishnaw said the Aluminium rake will reduce carbon footprint as there would be lower consumption of fuel.A single rake can save over 14,500 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. The resale value of the rakes is 80 percent.
The proliferation of aluminum wagons will result in less imports and boost the local aluminum industry, he added. (UNI)