Lok Sabha Question No. 3797 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Ongoing Railway Projects in Punjab
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Jasbir Singh Gill, Amar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3797 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2019

## ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN PUNJAB

3797.     SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL: DR. AMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  ongoing  projects  in  Punjab  and  the  status  of  each railway project as on date;
- (b) whether  any  project  is  lagging  behind  the  schedule  and  if  so,  the details thereof and reasons therefor;
- (c)    the  details  of  the  railway  stations  that  are  to  be  updated  and renovated and the total amount being spent on each;
- (d)    the status of new railway lines to be constructed between Beas to Qadian and Patti to Ferozepur;
- (e)    whether  Amritsar  station  is  being  renovated  and  if  so,  the  total amount  to  be  spent  and  the  time  by  which  project  is  likely  to  be completed; and
- (f)    the current steps taken to tackle the problem of de-bottlenecking of the existing freight corridors, especially in North India?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

ANSWER (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. 3797 BY SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL AND DR. AMAR SINGH TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  11.12.2019  REGARDING  ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN PUNJAB (a)  and  (b)    Presently,  14  railway  projects  (6  New  Lines  and  8  Doubling) covering a length of  871 Km, costing 16,100 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab are in different stages of planning/approval/execution, out of which, 316 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of 2184 crore has been incurred up to March, 2019.    This includes ; 6 New Line Projects covering a length of 356 Km costing 12,414 crore, out of which, 61 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of 1,004 crore has been incurred upto March 2019. 8 Doubling Projects covering a length of 515  Km costing 3,686 crore,  out of which, 255 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of 1,181 crore has been incurred up to March 2019. Details of projects including budget 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). Average  Annual  Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of  Punjab,  during 2014-19 has been enhanced to 1,004 crore per year from 225 crore per year during 200914 which is  446%  of average annual allocation of previous five years i.e during 2009-14 ( 225 crore). Total  allocation  of  Budget  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, 1,095 crore,  which is falling fully/ partly in State of   Punjab, in 2019-20 is 487 % of  the average annual Budget during 2009-14 .

The timely completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like  quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest  clearance  by officials of forest department, tree cutting permission,  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.

(c)  and (e) Ministry of Railways has planned for redevelopment of railway stations through Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC), Rail  Land  Development  Authority  (RLDA) and other Central Government  agencies.        Amritsar  railway  station  has  been  entrusted  to IRSDC for redevelopment.  The cost of station redevelopment project is to be met by leveraging commercial development of land and air space in and around the stations.

Station  redevelopment  project  is  complex  in  nature  and  requires detailed techno-financial feasibility studies and statutory clearances from local  authorities.    Therefore,  no  time-frame  for  completion  of  the  project can be indicated at this stage.

(d) Qadian-Beas  (39.68  Km)  new  line  project  was  included  in  budget 2011-12,  subject  to  requisite  approvals.    Latest  cost  of  the  project  is 890.67 crore.   Final Location Survey (FLS) of the project from Qadian side was started in May, 2012, but it got delayed due to protest from local public and law and order problems in the area.  Finally, Final Location Survey has been completed in the year 2017 under police protection and ensuring the presence of Duty Magistrate. The land acquisition papers for acquisition of 166.68  hectares  land  has  been  submitted  to  concerned  Special  Land Acquisition Officers for the project.   For speedy land acquisition, 13 lakh has also been paid by Railway to State Revenue Department for hiring of retired revenue staff. Firozepur-Patti (Mallanwala Khas-Gharayala 25.72 km) new line project was included in Budget 2013-14.  Government of Punjab has to provide land free of  cost  for  the  project.      Cost  of  the  project  is 299.74  crore.      Final Location  Survey  for  this  project  has  been  completed.    Land  acquisition papers  for  70.01  Ha  land  has  been  submitted  to  Deputy  Commissioner Firozepur and for  95.68 Ha land submitted to Deputy Commissioner, Taran Taran.    Execution  of  work  will  be  taken  up  after  complete  encumbrance free land is handed over to Railway. (f) Ministry  of  Railways  has  taken  up  construction  of  two  Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) viz. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana  to  Sonnagar  (1318  km)  and  Western  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) to Dadri (1504 km). Works on the projects have been taken up. DFC  will  offer  higher  transport  output  and  reduced  transit  time  in  the country.  Commissioning of DFC would also result in segregation of freight and  passenger  services  to  large  extent  and  decongestion  of  existing routes, thus leading to improvement of efficiency of the passenger services on the existing Indian Railway network.

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