Lok Sabha Question No. 4526 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-29
Subject: Rail Connectivity to North East and Odisha
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4526 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.03.2017

## RAIL CONNECTIVITY TO NORTH EAST AND ODISHA

4526. DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether some parts of North-East and Odisha are not connected by rail network;
- (b) if so, whether NITI Aayog has asked Railways to prepare a plan similar  to  Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Sadak  Yojana  (PMGSY)  and National  Highways  Development  Programme  (NHDP)  to  link districts which are not on rail map;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Railways  is  in  the  process  of  developing  project report  on  the  lines  of  PMGSY  and  NHDP  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (e) the other steps taken by the Government to link all parts of the country under railway network?

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. 4526 BY DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, DR.  J.  JAYAVARDHAN,  SHRI  SATAV  RAJEEV,  SHRI  MOHITE  PATIL VIJAYSINH  SHANKARRAO  AND  SHRIMATI  SUPRIYA  SULE  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 29.03.2017 REGARDING RAIL CONNECTIVITY TO NORTH EAST AND ODISHA

(a): Yes,  Madam.  Some  parts  of  North-East  and  Odisha  are  not connected by rail network. However, following New Line projects have been included in Budgets 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 falling partly or  fully  in  North-East  and  Odisha,  subject  to  requisite  Government approvals:

| S.No.   | Project                                               | Length (km)   | Cost ( ` in crore)   | Year of inclusion in Budget   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------|---------------|----------------------|-------------------------------|
|         | NORTH EASTERN REGION                                  |               |                      |                               |
| 1.      | Sibsagar-Jorhat                                       | 62            | 1296                 | 2017-18                       |
| 2.      | Salona-Khumtai                                        | 99            | 5958                 | 2017-18                       |
| 3.      | Tezpur-Silghat                                        | 25            | 2025                 | 2017-18                       |
|         | ODISHA                                                |               |                      |                               |
| 1.      | Jeypore-Malkangiri                                    | 130           | 1277                 | 2016-17                       |
| 2.      | Jeypore-Nabarangpur                                   | 38            | 485                  | 2016-17                       |
| 3.      | Extension of Naupada- Gunupur New Line upto Theruvali | 79            | 936                  | 2017-18                       |

(b) to (d): NITI  Aayog  has  not  asked  Railways  to  prepare  a  plan similar to Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

(e): Railways is in the process of making National Rail Plan 2030 to expand the railway network based upon representation and requests from various stakeholders such as various Ministries, State Governments, elected representatives, Industries etc. with consideration of operational requirement, bottlenecks, strategic requirements and socio-economic considerations.

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