Lok Sabha Question No. 474 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Delayed Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Jual Oram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.474 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## DELAYED RAILWAY PROJECTS

## 474. SHRI JUAL ORAM:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  the  construction  of  the  premier  railway  lines  namely Talcher-Bimlagarh,  Kurdha-Balangir  and  Angal-Duburi-Sakind  in Odisha have been inordinately delayed;
- (b)    if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (c)    the steps taken to expedite the construction of these projects?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (c):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 474 BY SHRI JUAL ORAM TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 05.02.2020 REGARDING DELAYED RAILWAY PROJECTS

(a) to (c):  Railway has taken up the work on Talcher-Bimlagarh new line, Khurda Road-Bolangir new line and Angul-Sukinda new line projects. The present status of these projects is as under:-

Talcher-Bimlagarh (150 km) New Line:

Railway has taken up the work of Talcher-Bimlagarh (150 km) New Line project. The anticipated cost of the project is ` 1928 crore. An expenditure of ` 609 crore has already been incurred upto March 2019. An outlay of ` 150 crore has been provided in the Budget 2019-20.

So far, 20 km length of the project has been completed and commissioned.  Land acquisition and forestry clearance have been taken up in balance section and work has been taken up in available land.

Khurda Road-Bolangir (289 km) New Line:

Railway has taken up the work of Khurda Road-Bolangir New Line (289 km),  costing ` 3798.80  crore.  Expenditure  incurred  upto  March,  2019  is ` 1327.09 crore and an outlay of ` 350 crore has also been provided in the Budget 2019-20.

This  Project  is  of  289  km  length  and  divided  into  two  parts.  1 st   part  is from km 0 to km 112 and 2 nd  part is from km 112 to km 289. 1 st  part (km 0 to km 112) is fully funded by Railway, while, 2 nd  part (from km 112 to km 289) is on cost sharing, in which, the land is to be provided free of cost by  Government of Odisha along with sharing 50% cost of construction.

State Government of Odisha has to deposit approx. ` 110 crore towards their share in the project. So far, 92 km length of the project has been completed and commissioned. Land acquisition and forestry clearance have been taken up in balance section and work has been taken up in available land. Angul-Sukinda Road (104.24 km) New Line: Railway has taken up the work of Angul-Sukinda Road. The anticipated cost of the project is ` 1202.70 crore. An expenditure of ` 767.15 crore has already been incurred upto March 2019. An outlay of ` 250 crore has been provided in the Budget 2019-20. This project has been taken up through Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (SPV)  funded  by  Angul-Sukinda  Rail  Limited (ASRL). 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  the  State Government  for  early  completion  of  project,  encountering  unforeseen conditions  like  earthquake,  flooding,  excessive  rains,  strikes  of  labour, working agencies/contractors etc.  All these factors affect the completion time of orders of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions of the project, which is finely worked out at the completion stage.

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. 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. *****