Lok Sabha Question No. 4118 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-18
Subject: Important Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Pritam Gopinath Munde, Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4118 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2020

## IMPORTANT PROJECTS

## 4118. DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Railways is aiming to complete all the important projects by 2022 on the occasion of 75th Independence Day;
- (b) if so, the definition of important projects along with the criteria fixed for identification of important projects;
- (c) the details thereof along with the charter of plan prepared therefor;
- (d) the funds required for completion of all important projects by 2022;
- (e) the sources from where these funds will be generated; and
- (f) the present status of these important projects?

## 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.4118 BY DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE AND SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 18.03.2020 REGARDING IMPORTANT PROJECTS

(a)  to  (f):  498  ongoing  Railway  Projects  including  188  New  Lines,    55 Gauge Conversion and 255 Doubling Projects of total length 49,069 Km, costing ` 6.75 lakh crore are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution.

In  addition,  under  the  Umbrella  Work  of  2019-20,  05  New  Line  works  of 432 Km length costing ` 6,419 crore and 32 Doubling works of 4,555 Km length  costing ` 47,841  crore  have  been  included  in  Budget  booklet  of Financial Year 2020-21.

The  project-wise detail including cost, expenditure and outlay are 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) >Pink  Book  (year)  >Railway-wise  Works  Machinery  &  Rolling  Stock Programme.

The important projects can be categorized as New Line National Projects, last  mile  connectivity  projects,  executable  through  put  enhancement Gauge Conversion projects and Super Critical/Critical /Doubling/3 rd Line/Quadrupling projects etc.

Thorough  review  of  throughput  enhancement  projects  has  been  carried out  and  with  focused  approach,  the  projects  have  been  prioritized  into Super  Critical  Projects  (58  nos),  Critical  Projects  (68  nos.)  and  other throughput enhancement projects (130 nos.).

As on 01.04.2019, the balance length of Super Critical Projects is 2,347 Km, 5,676 Km of Critical Projects. All out sincere and focused approach is being adopted by Railway for quick execution of these projects.

For the financial year 2020-21, Budget Outlay has been proposed to the projects  which  are  in  advance  stage  of  completion,  important  new  line National Projects, executable & Important Gauge Conversion projects and the  projects  which  are  important  from  the  throughput  enhancement considerations.  Thus,  the  focused  attention  is  given  in  fund  allotment, rather than thinly spreading the resources without fruitful results.

In  the  overall  interest  of  the  Nation  and  to  ensure  that,  projects  are completed in time without cost overrun, lot of monitoring is being 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.

## BUDGET ALLOCATION ON INDIAN RAILWAYS

Average  Annual  Budget  allotment  for  New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling Projects on Indian  Railways,  during  2014-19  has  increased  to

` 26,026 crore, from ` 11,527 crore (during 2009-14), which is 126% more as compared to average allotment during 2009-14.

Total  Budget Estimate (BE) Outlay for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects in 2019-20 was ` 30,198, which has been increased to ` 38,803  in  Revised  Budget  Outlay.  This  is  237%  more  as  compared  to average annual budget allotment during 2009-14. ( ` 11,527)

## COMMISSIONING OF NEW LINE, GAUGE CONVERSION AND DOUBLING

During  2009-14,  7599  km  length  (New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling)  has  been  commissioned  on  Indian  Railways.  Further,  during 2014-19, 13124 km length (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) has been commissioned  on  Indian Railways, which is  73%  more  than commissioning during 2009-14.

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  the  completion  of  the projects cannot be ascertained at this stage.

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