Lok Sabha Question No. 669 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Railway Projects in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Kuruva Gorantla Madhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.669 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

669. SHRI KURUVA GORANTLA MADHAV:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  Rail  projects  implemented  and  pending  in  Andhra Pradesh during the last three years and the current year;
- (b)  if    so,  the  details  of  funds  allocated  and  utilized  on  the  said projects;
- (c) the number of new railway lines laid or progressive related works done thereto in Andhra Pradesh during the last five years;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  expedite  the completion of the said projects or conducted review thereof; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (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.669 BY SHRI  KURUVA  GORANTLA MADHAV TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 05.02.2020 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

(a)  to  (e):    Railway  projects  are  sanctioned  Zonal  Railway  wise,  not State  wise.  However,  presently,  31  projects  (17  new  lines  and  14 doubling projects),  costing ₹ 52,686 crore, for 4,677 km length, falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh, are under different stages of planning/approval/execution, out of which, commissioning of 265 km length  has  been  achieved  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 7892  crore  has been incurred upto March 2019. This includes:

-  17 New Line Projects covering a length of 2027 km, at a cost of ₹ 25,684  crore.  Out  of  which  commissioning  of  186  Km  length has been achieved and an expenditure of ₹ 4,143 crore has been incurred upto March 2019. An outlay of ₹ 1,105 crore has been provided for 2019-20.
-  14 Doubling Projects covering a length of 2,649 km at a cost of ₹ 27,002 crore. Out of which commissioning of 79 Km length has been  achieved  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 3,749  crore  has  been incurred upto March 2019. An outlay of ₹ 1,817 crore has been provided for 2019-20.

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).                                       ……..2/-

-  Budget Allocation:
-  Average Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ₹ 2830 crore per year from ₹ 886 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 319% of average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.
-  Total allocation of Budget for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh in 201920  is ₹ 3885  crore  which  is  438%  of  annual  budget  outlay  of 2009-14.
-  Commissioning  of  New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling Projects:
-  During 2009-14, 363 km length (81 km New Line, 144 km Gauge Conversion and 138 km Doubling), falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh has been commissioned at an average rate of 72.6 km per year.
-  During  2014-19,  377  km  length  (258  km  New  Line,  119  km Doubling), falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh has been  commissioned)  at  an  average  rate  of  75.4  km  per  year, which is 104% of commissioning during 2009-2014.

Many of these projects are getting delayed due to land acquisition, forestry  clearance,  wildlife  clearance,  shifting  of  utilities  and  non deposition of State Govt.'s share in cost sharing projects. Ministry of

Railways has requested Govt. of Andhra Pradesh to take appropriate

action for clearing bottlenecks and to deposit their due share in cost sharing projects so that the pace of execution of Railway Projects is expedited.  The  outstanding  amount  towards  Government  of  Andhra Pradesh is of the order of ₹ 1280 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, cooperation  and  zeal  of  State  Government  for  early  completion  of project, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, excessive rains, strikes of labour, orders of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions  of working agencies/contractors etc. and all these factors vary from project to project and site to site and affect the completion time and cost of the project.

To ensure that project is 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  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.                                           ……..4/-

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.

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