Lok Sabha Question No. 409 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-24
Subject: Dongargarh-Katghora Railway Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Santosh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 409 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.03.2021

## DONGARGARH-KATGHORA RAILWAY LINE

- †*409.   SHRI SANTOSH PANDEY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of Dongargarh-Katghora railway line and the time by which the work on the said railway line is likely to be completed;
- (b) the details of the funds released till date in this regard item/headwise;
- (c) the names  of  the districts/places where  the  land acquisition process is incomplete along with the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether rates of land acquisition are different for the affected land owners and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (e) whether  there  is  any  provision  for  jobs  in  the  Railways  for  the families of the affected land owners and if so, the details thereof?

## 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 STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  409  BY  SHRI  SANTOSH  PANDEY  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.03.2021 REGARDING DONGARGARHKATGHORA RAILWAY LINE

(a) to  (c):    The  project  Katghora  to  Dongargarh  New  BG  Electrified line (294.53 Km) has been taken up by Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation  Ltd.  (CRCL),  a  Joint  Venture  company  of  Ministry  of Railway (49%) and Government of Chhattisgarh (51%), for execution at a cost of ₹ 5,950.47 Cr.  This project has been sanctioned by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 26.09.2018.

The financial structure of the project is as under:-

| Share of Ministry of Railway-         | ₹ 349.89 Cr (5.88 %)   |
|---------------------------------------|------------------------|
| Share of Government of Chhattisgarh - | ₹ 364.17 Cr (6.12%)    |
| Mahagenco-                            | ₹ 386.78 Cr (6.50 %)   |
| ACB India Pvt. Ltd.-                  | ₹ 386.78 Cr (6.50 %)   |
| Domestic Financial Institutions-      | ₹ 4,462.85 Cr (75 %)   |

Till date no funds have been released for this project. However, a sum of ₹ 24.5 Cr has been released to CRCL as equity Share of Ministry of Railway.

Publication  for  declaration  of  Land  Acquisition  has  been  done  in  5 districts (Korba, Bilaspur, Mungeli, Kawardha and Rajnandgaon) under section  20E.  Land  Acquisition  work  was  started  in  4  districts.  All obligations,  claims  etc  were  settled  and  the  stage  of  declaration  of award was reached in Nov 2018. Since then, the work is at standstill as no award has been declared by State Government and the proceedings have lapsed.

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,  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

-2- climate conditions etc. and all these factors affect the completion time of  the  project.  As  such,  no  confirmed  time  frame  for  completion  of projects can be ascertained at this stage.

(d):  The  rates  for  the  land  acquisition  are  decided  by  the  competent authorities  (which  is  in  this  case  are  Addl.  Collectors  nominated  for different districts by  Government  of  Chhattisgarh)  based  on  the prevailing guide line  rates  and  as  per  norms  of  Government  of Chhattisgarh  and  the  provisions  of  Right  to  Fair  Compensation  and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

(e): There is no provision for jobs in Railways for affected land owners.

During 2009-14 average annual budget outlay for Infrastructure projects  &  safety  works  falling  fully/partly  in  Chhattisgarh  State  was ₹ 311 Cr per year only, which has been increased to ₹ 2,274 crore per year i.e. 631% more than average annual budget allocation during 200914. Budget outlay of ₹ 3650 Cr has been proposed for these projects for Financial  Year  2021-22,  which  is  1074%  more  than  average  annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

During 2009-14, 32 Km Doubling projects falling fully/partly in the State of  Chhattisgarh  were  commissioned  (average  rate  6  km  per  year). Commissioning during 2014-19 has been increased to 416 Km (42 km New line and 374 km Doubling) (average rate 83 km per year), which is 1200% more than commissioning during 2009-14. During 2019-20, 103 Km  sections  (43  km  of  New  line  and  60  km  of  Doubling)  falling fully/partly  in  Chhattisgarh  State  have  been  commissioned,  which  is 1617% more than average annual commissioning during 2009-14 ( 6 Km per year).

New line project of Dallirajhara-Rowghat (95 Km) costing ₹ 4160 Cr has been delayed due to delay in handing over of land by Government of Chhattisgarh  and  due  to  law  and  order  problems  in  the  area.  Still Government of Chhattisgarh has to hand over encumbrance free land in 4.76 Km length.

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