Lok Sabha Question No. 4631 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-24
Subject: Delay in Ongoing Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Nalin Kumar Kateel, S.R. Parthiban, B. Y. Raghavendra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4631 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.03.2021

## DELAY IN ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS

4631. SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL: SHRI PARTHIBAN S.R.: SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there have been delays in the completion of ongoing railway projects and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any study to ascertain the reasons for the delay;
- (c) if so the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government is aware that the delay in execution of the projects cause huge losses to the Railways; and
- (e) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  response  of  the  Government thereto?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(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. 4631 BY SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL, SHRI PARTHIBAN S.R. AND SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA  TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK  SABHA  ON  24.03.2021  REGARDING  DELAY  IN  ONGOING  RAILWAY PROJECTS

(a)  to  (d):  As  on  01.04.2020,  513  Railway  projects  of  53,039  km  length, costing approx. ` 7.5 lakh crore are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution,  out  of  which  10,013  km  length  has  been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 1.86 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2020. These include:-

- (i) 189  New  line  projects  of  21,343  km  length,  costing ` 4,04,853 crore, out of which commissioning of 2,633 km length has been achieved  and  expenditure  of ` 94,575  crore  has  been  incurred upto March, 2020.
- (ii) 54  Gauge  Conversion  projects  of  7,003  km  length,  costing ` 59,699  crore,  out  of  which  commissioning  of  3,733  km  length has  been  achieved  and  expenditure  of ` 23,405  crore  has  been incurred upto March, 2020.
- (iii) 270  Doubling  projects  of  24,693  km  length,  costing ` 2,85,324 crore, out of which commissioning of 3,647 km length has been achieved  and  expenditure  of ` 67,816  crore  has  been  incurred upto March, 2020.

Completion  of  a  Railway  project(s)  depends  on  various  factors  like expeditious  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest  clearance  by officials  of  forest  department,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities,  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 etc. and all these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project(s) which is finally worked out at the completion stage.

(e): Various steps being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  prioritisation  of  projects    (ii) substantial  increase  in allocation of funds  on  priority projects  (iii) delegation  of  powers  at  field  level  (iv)  close  monitoring  of  progress  of project at various levels (v) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned  authorities  for  expeditious  land  acquisition,  forestry  and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects.

Average  annual  Budget  allocation  in  the  Indian  Railways  for  New  Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling works  during 2014-19 has increased to ` 26,026 crore per year from ` 11,527 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 126% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14 and Revised Budget  outlay  of ` 40,757  crore  was  provided  to  these  projects  for financial year 2020-21 which is 254% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14. For financial year 2021-22, highest-ever budget outlay of ` 45,165 crore has been proposed for these works, which is 292% more with respect to average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

During 2014-19, 13,124 km length (3035 km New Lines, 3,993 km Gauge Conversion and 6,096 km Doubling) has been commissioned which is 73% more than the commissioning during 2009-14 (7599 km). During 2019-20, 2,226 km length (360 km New Lines, 408 km Gauge Conversion and 1458 km Doubling) has been commissioned which is 46% more than average annual commissioning during 2009-14 (1,520 km/year).

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