Lok Sabha Question No. 582 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Ongoing Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Riti Pathak

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.582 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS

†582. SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Railways has received representations from various organizations/road users for the gauge conversion, laying of new rail  lines  and  doubling  of  rail  lines  which  are  necessary  and essential for the development of ports and industries;

- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  time  by  which  the  ongoing  rail  projects  are  likely  to  be completed and the timeline fixed for the same?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 582 BY SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK  TO BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  05.02.2020  REGARDING  ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS (a)  and  (b):  Proposals/suggestions/representations,  both  formal  and informal regarding Railway projects are received from State Governments, Ministries of Central Government, elected representatives,  organizations/rail  users  etc.  by  Railways  at  various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Division Office etc. As receipt  of  such  proposals/suggestions  is  a  continuous  and  dynamic process, centralized compendium of such requests is not maintained. Request for new lines, gauge conversion and doubling in the country including development of ports & industries and their feasibility study etc.  is  a  continuous  and  ongoing  process  of  Indian  Railways  and  is done based on demands  raised  by State Governments,  Central Ministries,  Members  of  Parliament,  other  public  representatives  and Railways' own requirement. As on 01.04.2019, Indian Railways have taken up 498 Railway projects of  49,069  km  length,  costing ` 6.75  lakh  crore,  which  are  in  different stages of planning/sanction/execution, out of which, commissioning of 8,979  km  length  has  been  achieved  and  expenditure  of ` 1.53  lakh crore  incurred  upto  March,  2019.  Project-wise  details  of  Railway projects  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railways website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in >Ministry of Railways >Railway Board >About Indian Railways >Railway Board Directorates >Finance (Budget).  These  projects  will  help  in  development  of  ports  and industries.

(c): The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like  quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials  of  forest  department,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities  (both underground  and  over  ground),  statutory  clearances  from  various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, excessive rains, strikes of labour, orders of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions of working agencies/contractors etc. All these factors vary from project to project and site to site and affect the completion time  and  cost  of  the  project,  which  is  finally  worked  out  at  the completion  stage.  Hence,  confirmed  time  line  for  completion  of projects cannot be given at this stage. In  the  overall  interest  of  the  nation  and  to  ensure  that  projects  are completed in time without  cost overrun, lot  of  monitoring  is  done  in Railways at various levels (field level, divisional level, zonal level and Board level) and regular meetings are held with the officials of State Government and concerned authorities to resolve the pending issues that are obstructing the progress of projects. To ensure that projects are completed even before time, Railway has adopted  the  concept  of  incentives  to  the  contractor  in  the  form  of bonus  clause  in  contracts  which  will  further  enhance  the  pace  of execution of projects.

For  capacity  enhancement  projects,  institutional  financing  has  been arranged, which has increased Railways' capacity for committed fund provision for capacity enhancement projects.

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