Lok Sabha Question No. 179 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-16
Subject: Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: HARI MANJHI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 179

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.11.2016

## RAILWAY PROJECTS

- † 179.   SHRI HARI MANJHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of such rail projects, which will be jointly financed by the Centre and the State Governments;
- (b) whether some projects out of these have been delayed and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the length of the new rail lines announced during the last three Rail Budgets and the position of Jharkhand with regard to such new projects;
- (d) the  zone-wise  details  of  such  projects  where  work  has  started and the extent of work which has been completed; and
- (e) the steps being taken to accelerate the work of rail projects with regard to new  rail lines, especially those passing through Jharkhand?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  179  BY  SHRI  HARI  MANJHI  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 16.11.2016 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS (a) & (b):   As on 01.04.2016, 41 nos. of railway projects covering a length of about  5650  Km  have  been  taken  up  on  cost  sharing  basis  with  State Governments.  The latest cost of these projects is ` 60,850  Crore  and  an outlay of ` 4,317 Crore has been provided in Rail Budget 2016-17 for these projects.    All  cost  sharing  projects  are  progressing  as  per  availability  of resources.      Every  railway  project  requires  a  number  of  clearances  from various  Ministries  and  Departments  of  State/Central  Governments.  These, inter-alia, include clearances inherent to land acquisition, forestry clearance  and  permission  for  crossing  from  departments  like  National Highway Authority of India, Public Works Department, Irrigation canals etc; and also clearances of Archeological Survey of India if the alignment passes in  vicinity  of  a  protected  monument,  local  bodies  for  projects  passing through  urban  areas,  etc  which  are  part  of  project  execution.  Process  of seeking the approvals/clearances and the time taken therein is inherent to project  execution  time.    Delays  therein  cause  delay  in  completion  of  the entire project. However, it is Railways' endeavour to complete the ongoing projects expeditiously.

(c)  &  (d):      Since  Railway  projects  straddle  over  more  than  one  State, projects  are  not  sanctioned  State-wise.  However,  during  the  last  three years i.e. 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, & current financial year i.e. 2016-17, 5305 Kms of new lines have been included in Railway Budget. Four new line projects    viz.  (i)  Chitra-Basukinath  (37  Km),  (ii)  Pirpainti-Jassidih  (97  Km), (iii)    Gooda-Pakur  (80  Km),  &  (iv)  Barwadih-Chirmari  (182  Km)  falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand have been included in Railway Budget. Preliminary works like planning & estimation etc. have been taken up.

(e):    Railways  have  a  large  throwforward  of  ongoing  projects  vis-à-vis availability  of  budget  from  Gross  Budgetary  Support  (GBS).    To  overcome this financial crunch, Ministry of Railways has approached State Governments to form Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) jointly with Ministry of Railways to undertake mutually identified rail infrastructure projects for project  development,  resources  mobilization  and  monitoring.    Some  other steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  for  effective  and  speedy implementation of rail projects in the country are (i) substantial increase in allocation of funds, (ii) prioritization of projects, (iii) delegation of powers at field  level,  (iv)  regular  co-ordination  meetings  with  State  Governments  for land acquisition, relocation of utilities, etc.

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