Lok Sabha Question No. 479 (STARRED), answered on 2023-04-05
Subject: New Railway Projects in Kerala
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ramya  Haridas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 479 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.04.2023

## NEW RAILWAY PROJECTS IN KERALA

- *479.    MS. RAMYA HARIDAS:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  new  railway  projects  sanctioned  for  Kerala  since 2017, zone- wise and year-wise;
- (b) the number of projects out of the above that are under progress, the  amount  spent  on  these  so  far  and  the  project-wise  steps taken/being taken by the Government to complete these on time; and
- (c) the number of railway projects in Gujarat that have been surveyed and approved but the work has not yet started?

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  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  479  BY  MS.  RAMYA  HARIDAS  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 05.04.2023 REGARDING NEW RAILWAY PROJECTS IN KERALA

(a) to (c): Railway projects are sanctioned and taken up Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise as the Railway's projects may span across various State boundaries.  Since  2017,  two  doubling  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  Kerala has been taken up.  Details of these projects are as under:

Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (Southern Railway) of length 87 km, costing ` 1432  crore  has  been  sanctioned  in  year  2017-18.    So  far,  an expenditure of ` 1275 crore has been incurred.  Budget outlay of ` 393.50 crore has been provided for financial year 2022-23. Project involves acquisition of 36.67 Ha revenue land in Kerala and 50.70 Ha revenue land in Tamil Nadu, out of which 12.29 Ha land in Kerala and 6.81 Ha land in Tamil Nadu has been acquired. Railway has deposited ` 532 crore in Kerala and ` 215 crore in Tamil Nadu for the land acquisition.   Government of Kerala and Tamil Nadu has to expedite land acquisition of balance 24.38 Ha and 43.89 Ha land respectively. Work has been taken up in available land.

Shornur-Ernakulam 3rd line (Southern Railway) of length 107 km costing ` 1518 crore has been included in budget in year 2018-19.  Project included in Budget subject to obtain requisite government approvals.

As  on  01.04.2022,  total  8  projects  (02  new  lines  and  06  doubling)  of total length 435 Km, costing ` 9,360 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Kerala are in different stages of planning/sanctioning/execution, out of which 8 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 2,462 crore has been incurred upto March, 2022.These include:-

-  02 new line projects of total length 146 Km, costing ` 2,953 crore. An expenditure of ` 303 crore has been incurred upto March, 2022.
-  6 doubling projects of total length 289 Km, costing ` 6,407 crore, out of which 8 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 2,159Cr. has been incurred upto March, 2022.

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in Kerala are covered under Southern Railway Zone of Indian Railways.

Zone-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  including  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) >Rail Budget/Pink Book (Year)> Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

Various steps being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti Directorate in the Ministry and Gati Shakti units in field, (ii) prioritisation of projects,  (iii)  substantial  increase  in  allocation  of  funds,  (iv)  delegation  of powers at field level,  (v)  close  monitoring  of  progress of  project  at  various levels (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects.

Since  2014,  there  has  been  substantial  increase  in  budget  allotment and commensurate commissioning of infrastructure projects. Average Annual ...3/-

Budget  allocation for infrastructure projects and  safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Kerala, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ` 950 crore per year from ` 372 crore per year during 2009 14 (155% more than average annual budget allocation during 2009-14). The Annual  Budget  allocation  for  these  projects  increased  to ` 667  crore  for Financial  Year  2019-20  (79%  more  than  average  annual  budget  allocation during 2009-14), ` 688 crore for Financial Year 2020-21 (85% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation during 2009-14), ` 1,866 crore in Financial year 2021-22 (402% more than average annual budget allocation during 200914)  and ` 1,085  crore  for  Financial  Year  2022-23  (192%  more  than  average annual  budget  allocation  during  2009-14).  For  financial  year  2023-24,  the highest  ever  budget  outlay  of ` 2,033  crore  has  been  allocated  for  these works, which is 446% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

During 2014-22, 107 Km sections (29 Km Gauge conversion and 78 Km Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Kerala has been commissioned at an average rate of 13.38 Km  per  year which is 26.23%  more  than commissioning during 2009-14(11 Km/Yr.)

## GUJARAT

Total 24 Surveys covering total length of 1208 km falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat has been completed in last 3 years (2019-20, 2020-21and 2021-22) and current financial year 2022-23.

As on 01.04.2022, 34 Railway Infrastructure Projects (04 New Line, 19 Gauge Conversion and 11 Doubling) costing ` 30,740 crore for 3,727km length falling  fully/partly in Gujarat  are  under different stage of  planning/ approval/ …4/-

execution,  out  of  which  1,053  Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ` 10,085 Cr. has been incurred upto March 22. These include:

-  04 New Line projects covering total length of 479 km at a cost of ` 5,417crore, out of which 79 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 1,913Cr. has been incurred upto March, 22.
-  19 Gauge Conversion projects covering total length of 1,636 km at a cost  of ` 10,077  crore,  out  of  which  641  Km  length  has  been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 3,589  Cr.  has  been  incurred upto March, 22.
-  11 Doubling projects covering total length of 1,612 km at a cost of ` 15,246 crore, out of which 333 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 4,583Cr. has been incurred upto March, 22.

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in Gujarat are covered under Western Railway and North Western Railway Zones of Indian Railways. Zone-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  including  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) >Rail Budget/Pink Book (Year)> Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

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 affect the completion time of the project. With above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project(s) expeditiously.

Average Annual Budget Allocation on infrastructure projects and safety works,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Gujarat,  during  2014-19  has  been enhanced to ` 3,327 crore per year from ` 589 crore per year during 2009-14. Thus,  the  average  annual  Budget  allocation  during  2014-19  is  465%  more than  average  annual  allocation  of  2009-14.   Annual  Budget  allocation  for these projects has been increased to ` 4,803 crore in financial year 2019-20 (716% more than average annual budget allocation of 2009-14), ` 4,071 crore in financial year 2020-21 (591% more than average annual Budget outlay of 2009-14), ` 4,924  crore  in  financial  year  2021-22  (736%  more  than  average annual  budget  outlay  during  2009-14)  and ` 4,745  crore  for  financial  year 2022-23 (706% more than average annual budget outlay during 2009-14). For financial  year  2023-24,  the  highest  ever  Budget  outlay  of ` 8,332  crore  has been allocated for these projects, which is 1315% more than average annual budget outlay during 2009-14.

During  2014-22,  1294  km  sections  (142  km  New  line,  607  km  Gauge conversion and 545 km Doubling), falling fully/partly in the State of  Gujarat, have been commissioned at an average rate of 161.75 km per year, which is 22.54%  more  than  average  annual  commissioning  achieved  during  2009-14 (132 Km/year)

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