Lok Sabha Question No. 225 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Diya Kumari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.225 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2019

## RAILWAY PROJECTS

- *225.  MS. DIYA KUMARI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  status/progress of  works relating  to  new  railway  lines,  doubling, gauge conversion, electrification and signalling during the last three years, State-wise including Rajasthan;
- (b) the details of funds allocated and utilised on the said projects; and
- (c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  timely  completion  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.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO.225 BY MS. DIYA KUMARI TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 04.12.2019 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS

(a):  Details  of  New  Lines,  Doubling,  Gauge  Conversion,  Electrification  and Signalling in the Country including Rajasthan are as under:-

New Lines:- Presently, Indian Railways have taken up 188 new line projects of  21,295  Km  length  and  costing ` 3.87  lakh  crore,  which  are  in  different stages  of  execution/planning/sanction.  Out  of  which,  commissioning  of 2,622 km length has been achieved and expenditure of ` 85,536 crore has been  incurred  up  to  March,  2019.  Out  of  total  188  new  line  projects,  49 projects of 3,850 km length, costing ` 71,927 crore, have been included in the Budget, during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Out of total 188 New Line Projects, 11 New Line projects are of 1,238 Km length, costing ` 15,303 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan. Out  of  which,  commissioning  of  69  km  length  has  been  achieved  and expenditure  of ` 1543  crore  has  been  incurred  up  to  March,  2019.  Out  of total  11  new  line  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan,  03 projects of 163 km length, costing ` 2,728 crore, have been included in the Budget, during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Gauge  Conversion:-  Presently,  Indian  Railways  have  taken  up,  55  Gauge Conversion projects of 7,275 Km length and costing ` 56,135 crore, which are in different stages of execution/planning/sanction. Out of which, commissioning of 3,573 km length has been achieved and expenditure of ` 19,640 crore has been incurred up to March, 2019. Out of total 55 gauge conversion  projects,  24  projects  of  1,328  km  length  and  costing ` 10,718 crore, have been included in the Budget, during last three years i.e. 201617, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Out of total 55 gauge conversion projects, 06 gauge conversion projects are of 1,637 Km length, costing ` 12,992 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan.  Out  of  which,  commissioning  of  664  km  length  has  been achieved and expenditure of ` 2,349 crore incurred up to March, 2019. Out of total  06  gauge  conversion  projects,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Rajasthan,  01  project  of  152  km  length,  costing ` 2,654  crore  has  been included  in  the  Budget  during  last  three  years  i.e.  2016-17,  2017-18  and 2018-19.

Doubling:- Presently, Indian Railways have taken up, 255 doubling projects of  20,500  Km  length  and  costing ` 2.32  lakh  crore,  which  are  in  different stages  of  execution/planning/sanction.  Out  of  which,  commissioning  of 2,784 km length has been achieved and expenditure of ` 48,342 crore has been  incurred  up  to  March,  2019.  Out  of  total  255  doubling  projects,  81 projects  of  5,184  km  length,  costing ` 62,825 crore have been included in the Budget, during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Out of total 255 doubling projects, 14 doubling projects of 1,789 Km length, costing ` 18,699 crore, falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan.  Out  of which, commissioning of 137 km length has been achieved and expenditure of ` 2,475  crore  has  been  incurred  up  to  March,  2019.  Out  of  total  14 doubling projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan, 04 projects of 724 km length, costing ` 10,144 crore have been included in the Budget, during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Railway  Electrification:-  Presently,  Indian  Railways  have  taken  up  62 Railway Electrification projects of length 29,537 km costing ` 30,915 crore, which are in different stages of execution/Planning. Out of which, commissioning  of  4,521 km  length has been achieved  and  expenditure of

` 9,152  crore  incurred  upto  March,  2019.  Total  64  Railway  Electrification projects of 24,089 km length, costing ` 23,396 crore have been included in the Budget during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

These 62 projects  includes  21  electrification  projects  of  5,360  km  length and costing ` 4,904 crore falling fully/partly in the state of Rajasthan. Out of which, commissioning of 865 km length has been achieved and expenditure of ` 1,485 crore incurred upto March, 2019. Total 20 Railway Electrification projects  of  4,022  km  length  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan, costing ` 3,315  crore  have  been  included  in  the  Budget  during  last  three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Signalling:-  Presently,  Indian  Railways  have  taken  up  877  projects  (each costing above ` 2.5 crore) for upgradation of signalling system amounting to ` 23,429.76  crore,  which  are  in  different  stage  of  execution.  Out  of  above 877 projects, 205 projects amounting to ` 3,842 crore have been completed. Expenditure  of ` 6,332  crore  incurred  up  to  March  2019.  Out  of  total  877 projects,  361  projects  costing ` 7,953  crore  have  been  included  in  the Budget during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

The  above  877  projects  includes  50  projects  amounting  to ` 756.47  crore falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan and expenditure of ` 219.24 crore have  been  incurred  upto  March  2019.  Out  of  50  projects,  9  projects amounting ` 92.44 crore have been completed. Out of total 50 projects, 32 projects  and  costing ` 458 crore  have  been  included  in  the  Budget  during last three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

(b):    The  details  of  allotment  of  funds  and  expenditure  project-wise  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).

(c):    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 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.

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 that are 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  capacity  enhancement projects, institutional financing has been done by  arranging  loan  of ` 1.5  lakh  crore,  which  has  increased  Railways' capacity for committed fund provision for essential projects.

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