Lok Sabha Question No. 1799 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-21
Subject: Pending Railway Projects in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Kani K. Navas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1799 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.09.2020

## PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

1799. SHRI K. NAVASKANI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  total  number  of  pending  projects  of  Railways  in  Tamil  Nadu, district-wise;
- (b)  the reasons for pendency of these projects; and
- (c)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  complete  these  projects  in time?

## 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.  1799  BY  SHRI  K.  NAVASKANI  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  21.09.2020  REGARDING    PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

(a): Railway projects are sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not  State/District  wise,  as  Indian  Railway  network  straddles  across various State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2020, 27 projects (9 new line, 4 Gauge conversion and 14 doubling), covering a length of 3,138 Km costing ` 30,961 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution, out of which commissioning of 706 Km length has been achieved and an expenditure of ` 5,909 crore has been incurred upto March, 2020.

Average  annual  Budget  Allocation  for  Infrastructure  &  safety projects,  falling  fully/partly  in  State  of  Tamil  Nadu,  for  2014-19  has increased  to ` 1,979  crore/year,  which  is  125%  more  than  the  average annual  Budget  outlay  of  2009-14  ( ` 879  crore/year).    The  outlay  during 2019-20  further  increased  to ` 2410  crore,  which  is  174%  more  than average  annual  outlay  of  2009-14.      In  2020-21,  Budget  outlay  further increased  to ` 2812  crore,  which  is  220%  more  than  average  annual outlay of 2009-14.

(b) and (c):  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, 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, etc.  All these factors differ from project to project and affect the completion time of the project.

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 regarding quick land acquisition, forestry  clearances,  tackling  law  and  order  issues  and  to  resolve  the pending issues that are obstructing the progress of projects.

To  ensure  the  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.

Funds  for  capacity  enhancement  projects  have  been  arranged through institutional financing for assured funding for capacity enhancement projects.

*****