Lok Sabha Question No. 2140 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-04
Subject: On-going Railway Projects in West Bengal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dilip Ghosh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2140 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.03.2020

## ON-GOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN WEST BENGAL

2140.  SHRI DILIP GHOSH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the on-going railway projects in West Bengal;

(b) the current status of each railway projects as on date;

(c) whether any project is lagging behind the schedule; and

- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## ANSWER (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2140  BY  SHRI  DILIP  GHOSH  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  04.03.2020  REGARDING  ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN WEST BENGAL

(a) to (d): Railway projects are not sanctioned State-wise.  Projects are sanctioned and executed Zonal Railway wise.  However, presently 54 projects  (16  new  lines,  04  gauge  conversions  and  34  doublings), costing ₹ 43,033 crore, covering a length of 4,422 Km, falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  are  in  different  stages  of planning/approval/execution. Out of which 1,891 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 14,965 crore has been incurred upto  March'19.  An  outlay  of ₹ 1393  crore  has  been  provided  for  the current financial year 2019-20 for these projects. This includes:

-  16  new  lines  projects  covering  a  length  of  1,541  km,  costing ₹ 17,866 crore. Out of which, commissioning of 688 Km length has been  achieved  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 7232  crore  incurred  upto March'19.      An  outlay  of ₹ 378  crore  has  been  provided  for  the current financial year for these projects .
-  4 gauge conversion projects covering a length of 1200 km, costing ₹ 6,656 crore. Out of which, commissioning of 821 Km length has been achieved and an expenditure of ₹ 3,305  crore  incurred  upto March'19.  An outlay of ₹ 89 crore has been provided for the current financial year for these projects.
-  34 doubling projects covering a length of 1680 km, costing ₹ 18,512 crore.  Out  of  which,  commissioning  of  383  Km  length  has  been achieved and an expenditure of ₹ 4426 crore incurred upto March'19.  An  outlay  of ₹ 925  crore  has  been  provided  for  the current financial year for these projects.

The project-wise details including expenditure incurred, and outlay are made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railways  website  i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in  >  Ministry  of  Railways  >  Railway  Board  > Finance

About Indian Railways > Railway Board Directorates > (Budget).

## Budget Allocation:

-  Average  annual  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  & safety works, falling fully/ partly in State of West Bengal has been enhanced  to ₹ 4612  crore  per  year  (during  2014-19)  from ₹ 4380 crore per year (during 2009-14), which is 105% of average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.
-  Total  allocation  of  Budget  for  infrastructure  projects  &  safety works,  falling  fully/  partly  in  State  of  West  Bengal,  in  2019-20  is ₹ 5033 crore, which is 115 % of average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

The  completion  of  Railway  projects  depend  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.  As  such,  no  confirmed  time  line  can  be  given  for completion of these projects.

******