Lok Sabha Question No. 2429 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-21
Subject: Ongoing Railway Projects in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sanjeev Kumar Singari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2429 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.12.2022

## ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

2429.    DR. SANJEEV KUMAR SINGARI :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state  :

- (a) the details of the ongoing  railway projects in Andhra Pradesh along with the estimated time of completion;
- (b) whether the Government has proposed to undertake any new railway projects in  Andhra Pradesh; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS &  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (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 UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2429 BY DR. SANJEEV KUMAR SINGARI TO BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  21.12.2022  REGARDING  ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

(a) to (c) Railway projects are sanctioned and taken up Zonal Railway wise  not  State  wise  as  Railways'  project/s  may  span  across  State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2022, 31 projects(16 New Lines and 15 Doubling),  covering  total  length  of  5,581  km,  costing ₹ 70,594  crore, falling  fully/partly  in  Andhra  Pradesh,  are  under  different  stage  of planning/approval/execution,  out  of  which  636  km  length  has  been commissioned and an expenditure  of ₹ 19,414  crore  has  been  incurred upto March 2022. These include:

-  16  New  Line  Projects,  covering  total  length  of  1,917  km  at  a cost  of ₹ 25,809  Crore,  out  of  which  130  Km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 4,201  Cr.  has  been incurred upto March 22.
-  15 Doubling Projects, covering total length of 3,664 km at a cost of ₹ 44,785  Crore,  out  of  which  506  Km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 15,213  Cr.  has  been incurred upto March 22.

Railway  infrastructure  projects  in  Andhra  Pradesh  are  covered  under Southern  Railway,  South  Central  Railway,  South  Western  Railway  and East  Coast  Railway  Zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal    Railway  wise details of projects including their cost, expenditure and outlay 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)  >Pink Book(Year) >Railway wise works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme. Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in budget allocation and commensurate commissioning of infrastructure projects. Average annual budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh, during 2014-19 has increased to ₹ 2830 crore  per year from ₹ 886 crore per year during 2009-14. Thus, an increase of 219% over the average annual budget allocation of 200914. Annual budget outlay for these projects has been increased to ₹ 3885 crore in 2019-20 (338% more than average annual budget outlay during 2009-14), ₹ 4910  crore  in  2020-21  (454%  more  than  average  annual budget  outlay during 2009-14) and ₹ 6223 crore in financial year 2021-22 (602%  more  than  average  annual  budget  outlay  during  2009-14).    For financial year 2022-23 the highest ever budget allocation of ₹ 7,032 crore has  been  provided  for  these  projects,  which  is  694%  more  than  the average of 2009-14 ( ₹ 886 Cr/Yr.).

Completion  of  any  Railway  project/s  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/s  site,  number  of working  months  in  a  year  for  particular  project/s  site  etc.   All  these factors affect the completion time of the project/s. With above constraints,  Railway  is  making  all  effort  for  expeditious  completion  of project/s.

During  2014-22,  989  Km  sections  (350  km  of  New  line  and  639  km  of Doubling) falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh have been commissioned at  an  average  rate  of  123.63  km  per  year,  which  is  70%  more  than commissioning during 2009-14( 72.6 Km/Yr.) New  Line  Projects  are  considered  on  the  basis  of  demands  raised  by State  Governments,  Central  Ministries,  Members  of  Parliament,  other public representatives and Railways' own requirements. They are taken up  on  the  basis  of  remunerativeness,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing links  and  alternate  routes,  augmentation  of  congested/saturated  lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon liabilities of ongoing projects,  overall  availability  of  funds  and  competing  demands.  This covers connectivity to backward and rural areas also.

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