Lok Sabha Question No. 173 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-03
Subject: Railway Projects in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: M. Selvaraj, Su Thirunavukkarasar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.173 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.07.2019

RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

*173.  SHRI M. SELVARAJ: SHRI SU. THIRUNAVUKKARASAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the details along with the total number of railway projects viz., electrification of railway lines, conversion of meter-gauge into broadgauge,  construction  of  ROB(Railway  Over  Bridges)  etc.  that  are pending and incomplete across the country, particularly in the State of Tamil Nadu during the last three years and the current year;

(b) the time by which these projects are likely to be completed in all respects; and

(c) the total funds allocated and spent for these projects during the said period, project and State/UT-wise including Tamil Nadu?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.173 BY SHRI M. SELVARAJ AND SHRI  SU.  THIRUNAVUKKARASAR  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON 03.07.2019 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

## (a) (i)    Railway Electrification Projects:

At  present,  70  Railway  Electrification  projects  of  26,375  Route Kilometers costing ` `34,167 Crore, including in the State of Tamil Nadu,  are in different stages of execution. Additionally electrification works of  2,435 Route Kilometers, sanctioned along with  Gauge conversion, Doubling and New line works are also under execution.   As on 01.04.2019, 35,448 Route Kilometers of rail lines covering 55.19% of Broad Gauge Railway network in the country have been commissioned on electric traction.

During last three years i.e. 2016-17 to 2018-19 and the current year upto  01.06.2019,  11,641  Route  Kilometers  of  Railway  network  has  been commissioned  on  Electric  traction,  which  includes  409  Route  Kilometers falling in the State of Tamil Nadu.

## (ii) Gauge Conversion, New Line and Doubling Projects:

At present, 491 Railway projects including 189 New Lines, 55 Gauge Conversation and 247 doubling Projects are in different stages of execution/planning/sanction. The total length of these projects is 48860.64  km  costing ` 6.476  lakh  crore  on  which  commissioning  of 9,113 km length and expenditure of ` 1.43 lakh crore has been done upto March, 2019.  Out of these, 22 projects (9 projects of New line, 5 projects of Gauge Conversion and 8 Projects of doubling) of 2509 km length costing ` 21,829 crore falling partly or fully in the State of Tamil Nadu are in different stages of planning/ approval/execution.

As  far  as  gauge  conversion  projects  are  concerned  in  the  country, total 55 gauge conversion projects, including in the State of Tamil Nadu of 7,229  km  length  &  costing ` `54,292.53  Crore  are  in  different  stages  of planning/approval/execution out of which, commissioning of 3798 km with expenditure of ` 19,638 Crore has been achieved up to March, 2019.  Only in Tamil Nadu State, 606 km length of Gauge Conversion has been commissioned upto March, 2019 with expenditure of ` `2,344 crore.

## (iii) Railway Over Bridge Projects:

As per Pink Book, work for construction of 1581 Road Over Bridges (ROB) have been sanctioned across the country.  Out of these, 249 ROBs have been completed and commissioned.  Remaining works are at various stages of planning, estimation and execution.

As  per  Pink  Book,  work  for  construction  of  150  road  Over  Bridges (ROBs) has been sanctioned in the State of Tamil Nadu.  Out of these, 40 ROBs have been completed and commissioned.  Remaining  works  are  at various stages of planning, estimation and execution.

During  last  three  years  and  the  current  year  (upto  May),  199  ROBs across  the  country  and  25  ROBs  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  have  been completed and commissioned on cost sharing basis.

- (b) 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, cooperation and zeal of State Government  for  early  completion  of  project,  encountering  unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, excessive rains, labour strikes, orders of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions  of working agencies/contractors etc.  All  these  factors  affect  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 level (field level, divisional level, zonal level and Board level) and regular meetings are done 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  crore, which  has  increased  Railways'  capacity  for  committed  fund  provision  for essential projects

(c) Railway Electrification works are not confined to State/Union Territories boundaries.   However,  Year-wise  allocation  and  expenditure  on  Railway Electrification  projects  during  last  three  years  and      current  year  is  as under:-

| Year    | Allocation ` in crores   | Expenditure ` in crores   |
|---------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| 2016-17 | 3,396.00                 | 2,955.89                  |
| 2017-18 | 3,456.96                 | 3,837.08                  |
| 2018-19 | 6,302.00                 | 7,028.50                  |
| 2019-20 | 6,960.26                 | 1,113.88 (upto May'19)    |

Year-wise allocation and expenditure on construction of ROBs/RUBs during the last three years and current year is as under:-

| Year    |   Allocation ` in Crores | Expenditure ` in crores   |
|---------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| 2016-17 |                  3066.17 | 3170.55                   |
| 2017-18 |                  4000    | 3174.30                   |
| 2018-19 |                  4203.18 | 3543.45                   |
| 2019-20 |                  4100    | 639.96 (upto May'19)      |

The details of funds spent on Gauge Conversation projects, allotment of  funds  and  expenditure  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian Railways website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in under the link http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/view\_section\_new.jsp?lang=0 &id=0,1,304,366,539,2148  and  are  also  available  in  Pink  Books  presented before the Parliament along with Budget every year.

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