Lok Sabha Question No. 3 (STARRED), answered on 2016-11-16
Subject: Ongoing Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: SUNIL KUMAR SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 3 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.11.2016

## ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS

- †* 3. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether many ongoing railway projects are more than 30 years old and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  broad  reasons  for  abysmal  delay  in  implementation  of  these projects and the fresh timeline fixed for their execution;
- (c) whether these long pending projects are being reviewed at periodical intervals to assess their viability and project implementation and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether any mechanism exists to prioritize the pending projects and if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

- (a) to (d):   A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  3  BY  SHRI  SUNIL  KUMAR  SINGH  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 16.11.2016 REGARDING ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS

(a) to (d):  There are 2 ongoing railway projects which are more than 30 years old.  The details of these projects are as given below:-

| Name of the project                                                                                      | Present status & reasons for delay                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Nangal Dam- Talwara (83.74 km) new broad gauge line & Taking over siding of Mukerian- Talwara (29.16 km) | The project was sanctioned in 1981-82. Section from Nangaldam to Amb Andaura (44.25 Km) has been commissioned. On Amb Andaura-Chintpurni-Daulatpur Chowk (16 Km) section, work has been taken up after acquisition of land in 2014-15 & 2015-16. From Daulatpur Chowk to Kartoli Punjab (10 Km), land acquisition for 24 Hect. has been taken up by Governments of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Due to paucity of fund and delay in land acquisition, the project could not be taken up at desired pace in the past resulting in cost escalation and delays. In the last two years, adequate funds have been allotted i.e. Rs.100 Crores each in 2015-16 and 2016-17, but the pace of the execution is slow due to land acquisition related issues in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Regarding taking over of siding from Mukerian to Talwara, land for the same has been taken over and Final Location Survey has been taken up to assess works needed to be carried out. Progress of this taking over of siding will be dove-tailed with progress of construction of new line in the balance section. |

| Howrah-Amta (42 Km) and Bargachia- Champadanga (32 Km) New Line   | The project was sanctioned in 1974-75. Part of main project i.e. Howrah - Amta new line (42 Km) has been completed and commissioned on 30.12.2004. For Bargachia- Champadanga new line (32 Km) section, land was to be provided free of cost by Government of West Bengal. However, the State Government later showed inability in providing land free of cost. In 2009, it was decided that 1/3 rd cost of land will be borne by the State Government and remaining cost by Railways. Accordingly, land acquisition proposals have been sent to the State Government and Rs. 23.62 Crore have also been deposited by Railways towards their share of cost as demanded by the State Government. The State Government has not handed over land for the project.   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Indian  Railways  have  taken  various  initiatives  to  increase  pace  of execution of projects. This includes, but not limited to:

1. Making higher fund allotment for projects. The capital expenditure for  railways  has  been  increased  from  Rs  54,000  Cr  in  2013-14  to around  Rs  94,000  Cr  in  2015-16.  For  2016-17,  a  plan  size  of Rs. 1,21,000 crore has been kept.
2. Adopting  Detailed  Project  Report  (DPR)  based  approach  for  new works has resulted into saving of time in starting the work. Earlier, it used to take 2 to 3 years for starting a work after its inclusion in the Pink  Book.  However,  this  period  has  now  effectively  been  brought down to less than a year.

3. Delegation of Powers to the field officers for tenders and estimates: The  zonal  railways  have  now  been  delegated  full  powers  with respect to works contracts and powers with respect to sanctioning of  estimates  have  also  been  enhanced.  This  has  also  resulted  in cutting down time for estimate sanctions and tenders.
4. Institutional  financing  by  tying  up  loan  with  M/s  Life  Insurance Corporation  of  India  Limited  for  assured  funding  of  viable  projects has  increased  Railway's  capacity  for  committed  fund  provision  for essential projects.
5. Initiative for formation of Joint Venture Company  with state governments which makes the states a partner in growth of railway infrastructure in the states.

These initiatives have resulted into commissioning of 2828 km new line, gauge conversion and doubling in 2015-16 which is the highest ever achieved by Indian Railway. A commissioning of 7.1 km per day of network expansion has been  done  in  2015-16  compared  to  an  average  of  4.1  km  per  day  which  was being done in previous 10 years from 2004 to 2014. For 2016-17, a target of 2800 km track for introduction of passenger and goods services has been kept which is an all time high target.

All  sanctioned  projects  are  reviewed  periodically  both  at  Ministry  and Zonal Railway level for which there exists well established mechanism.  Railway projects have been prioritized in A to C category in order of their importance. Category A has been further sub-categorized as A1 for National Projects, A2 for cost sharing projects with the state governments, A3 for intermediate critical projects, A4 for medium critical projects and A5 for other important projects.

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