Lok Sabha Question No. 1829 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-03
Subject: Railway Projects in Karnataka
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: B. Y. Raghavendra, Nalin Kumar Kateel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1829 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.07.2019

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN KARNATAKA

## 1829.  SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA: SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of doubling, electrification and construction of new railway lines in the State of Karnataka;
- (b) the  details  in  this  regard  during  the  last  three  years,  project and  year-wise;
- (c) the  current  status  of  land  acquisition  for  new  railway  line  in the State along with the details in this regard;
- (d) the  details  of  funds  allocated  and  spent  for  the  said  project during each of the last three years, project-wise;
- (e) whether  the  said  projects  have  been  completed  as  per  the time schedule and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) if not, the reasons therefor and the time by when the aforesaid projects are likely to be completed?

## 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.  1829  BY  SHRI  B.Y.  RAGHAVENDRA AND SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.07.2019 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN KARNATAKA

(a), (b) and (d): Total 35 projects of 4417 Km length, costing ` 41746 crores are in different stages of planning/approval/execution in the State  of  Karnataka  and  commissioning  of  679  Km  length  with expenditure  of ` 8402  crores  achieved  upto  March,  2019.  Out  of these,  20  New  Line  projects  of  2502  Km  length  costing ` 26393 crores are of new line construction and 15 Doubling projects of 1916 Km length costing ` 15353 crores are of construction of double/3 rd /4 th  line.

During last 03 financial years (2016-17 to 2018-19), 05 projects of  New  Lines  of  421  Km  length  &  costing ` 6100  crores  and  04 projects of  Doubling  of  131  Km  length  costing ` 1073  crores  have been  included  in  the  Budget  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Karnataka.

Also, during the same period, 253.4 Km length of New Line  & 346.93 Km length of Doubling  got commissioned in the State  and the total Budget Outlay during the same period  was ` 9699 crores for the State.

Total 16 Railway Electrification projects of 3,379 route kilometers, costing ` 3,772 crores are in different stages of planning/execution in the State of Karnataka. Upto March 2019,  386 route kilometers have been commissioned on electric traction.

The details of all works in progress and new works including funds spent on each project, allotment of funds and expenditure are made  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) >2019-20\_List\_of\_Works and are also available in Pink  Books  presented  before  the  House  along  with  Budget  every year.

(c):  12  Nos.  New  Line  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Karnataka require 19892.69  acre land,  out of which, so far, only 4507.83  acre  land  has  been  handed  over  to  Railways  &  15384.86 acre land is still  balance, which is yet to be acquired and handed over to Railways by the Government of Karnataka.

(e) and (f): 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,  shifting  of infringing  utilities  (both  underground  &  over  ground),  statutory clearances  from  various  authorities,  geological  &  topographical conditions of area, law & order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to  climatic  considerations,  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 affects the completion cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage.

In  the  overall  interest  of  the  Nation  and  to  ensure  that projects are 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.

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  done  by arranging loan from M/s Life Insurance Corporation of India Limited for ` 1.5  lakh  crores,  which  has  increased  Railways'  capacity  for committed fund provision for essential projects.

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