Lok Sabha Question No. 1430 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: Railway Projects in Odisha
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sarmistha Sethi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1430 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2021

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ODISHA

## 1430. SHRIMATI SARMISTHA SETHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the details of railway projects under implementation in the State of Odisha;
- (b) the status of those projects along with the estimated cost, expenditure incurred and the scheduled date of their completion;
- (c)   the reasons for cost and time overrun in those projects, if any; and
- (d)  whether  any  timeline  has  been  fixed  for  completion  of  all  these projects including provision of sufficient funds in  the Budget, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1430 BY SHRIMATI SARMISTHA SETHI TO BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  28.07.2021  REGARDING  RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ODISHA

(a)  to  (d):    Railway  projects  are  sanctioned Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise,  as,  Indian  Railways'  network  spans  across  various  State boundaries.  However,  as  on  01.04.2021,  37  Railway  Projects  costing ` 55,219  crore  for  4,643  km  length,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Odisha  are  at  different  stages  of  planning/approval/execution,  out  of which,  928  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` 16,903 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021. These include:

11 New Line Projects covering a length of 1,460 km at a cost of ` 20,346 crore,  out  of  which,  112  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ` 3,789 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.

1 Gauge Conversion (GC) project covering a length of 159 km at a cost of ` 1,455 crore, out of which, 90 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 184 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.

25 Doubling Projects covering a length of 3,024 km at a cost of ` 33,418 crore,  out  of  which,  726  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ` 12,930 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.

State of Odisha is covered by East Coast Railway (ECoR), South Eastern Railway  (SER)  and  South  East  Central  Railway  (SECR)  zones  of  Indian Railways. The project-wise details including cost, expenditure and outlay are 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 (RSP).

Completion of any Railway project/s depend 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 site due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors differ from project to project and affect the completion time of the project.  As such, firm completion time of the projects can not be ascertained at this stage.

Average  annual  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  &  safety works,  falling  fully/  partly  in  State  of  Odisha,  during  2014-19  has  been enhanced to ` 4,126 crore per year from ` 838 crore per year (during 200914). Thus, the average budget allocation during 2014-19 is 392% more as compared  to  average  allocation  during  2009-14  ( ` 838  Cr/Year).    These allocations  have  been  enhanced  to ` 4,568  crore  in  2019-20  and ` 5,296 crore  in  2020-21  which  are  445%  and  532%  more  than  the  average allocation  of  2009-14  ( ` 838  Cr/Year)  respectively.  Total  allocation  of Budget has further been enhanced to ` 5,921 crore in 2021-22, which is the highest ever budget allocation for the State of Odisha and 607% more than the average of 2009-14 ( ` 838 Cr/Year).

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