Lok Sabha Question No. 584 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Railway Projects in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: H. Vasanthakumar, S. Venkatesan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 584 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

584.  SHRI VASANTHAKUMAR H.: SHRI S. VENKATESAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of ongoing pending/new railway projects sanctioned in the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  including  Madurai  during  the  last  five years, zone-wise, project-wise and year-wise;
- (b) the details of funds allocated to the sanctioned projects including Madurai railway project and the reasons for delay in executing the projects;
- (c) the  number  of  railway  projects  lagging  behind  the  schedule completion, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  measures  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  complete  the projects at an early date, if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government proposes to sanction any new project in the  State  if  so,  the  list  of  pending  ROBs/  RUBs  in  Kanyakumari district along with the reasons for pending; and
- (f) the time by which this project is likely to be completed?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 584 BY SHRI VASANTHAKUMAR H. AND SHRI S. VENKATESAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 05.02.2020 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

(a)  to  (d):    Railway  projects  are  included/sanctioned  Zonal  Railwaywise, not state-wise.  However, total 7 projects (2 New Line projects and  5  Doubling  projects),  covering  a  length  of  460.76  Km,  costing 4799.13 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu including Madurai  have  been  included  in  budget  during  last  five  years.  This includes:-

-    2  New  Line  projects  covering  a  length  of  53.2  Km,  costing 567.25 crore.
-    5  Doubling  projects  covering  a  length  of  407.56  Km,  costing 4231.88 crore.

These projects are in different stages of planning/ sanction/execution.

The project-wise details of projects including cost, expenditure and outlay 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)>Railway-wise Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme> Regular Budget (year).

Average  annual  Budget  Allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  & safety works, falling fully/partly in State of Tamil Nadu, for 2014-19 is 1,979 crore, which is 225% of the average annual Budget outlay of 2009-14  ( 879 crore).

Allocation of Budget for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling  fully/partly  in  State  of  Tamil  Nadu,  for  2019-2020  is 2,410 crore, which is 274% of the average annual Budget outlay of 2009-14 ( 879 crore).

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.

To ensure the project is completed in time without cost overrun, lot  of  monitoring  is  done  in  Railway  at  various  levels  (Field  level, Divisional level, Zonal level and Board level) and regular meetings are held with the officials of States Government and concerned authorities to  resolve  the  pending  issues  obstructing  the  progress  of  projects. Besides  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 important projects, capacity enhancement projects, last mile connectivity etc, institutional financing has been arranged, which has increased Railways' capacity for committed fund provision for capacity enhancement projects.

(e) and (f):   There are 02 Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and 01 Road Under Bridge (RUB) have been sanctioned in Kanyakumari district. ROBs have been sanctioned in lieu of level crossing (LC) No. 15 at km 259/500-600 between Kuzhithurai and Eraniel railway stations and at LC  No. 74 at km  310/000-100  Between  Valliyur  and  Nanguneri  railway  stations. General  Arrangement  Drawing  (GAD)  of  both  these  works  has  been approved.  The  work  is  held  up  due  to  land  acquisition  issues  by  the State Government. A RUB has been sanctioned in lieu of LC No.82 at km 322/15-16 between Valliyur and Nanguneri railway stations. Railway portion of this RUB has been completed. The approach work is under progress.

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