Lok Sabha Question No. 668 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Ongoing/Pending Railway Projects in Odisha
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rajashree Mallick, Sarmistha Sethi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 668 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## ONGOING/PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ODISHA

668. SHRIMATI RAJASHREE MALLICK: SHRIMATI SARMISTHA SETHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the ongoing and pending railway projects in the country especially in Odisha including Jagatsinghpur project/area-wise;
- (b) the  details  of  target  fixed  during  the  current  year  for  the development  of  new  lines/gauge  conversion/doubling  projects in Odisha including Jagatsinghpur;
- (c) the  details  of  funds  allocated/utilised  for  the  development  of railway projects in Odisha during the last three years;
- (d) the  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Railways  to  speed  up these pending railway projects in Odisha;
- (e) the number of projects out of the above that are lagging behind the schedule; and
- (f) the time by which these projects are likely to be completed?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 668 BY SHRIMATI RAJASHREE MALLICK AND SHRIMATI SARMISTHA SETHI TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.07.2022 REGARDING ONGOING/PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ODISHA

(a)  to  (f):  The  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned/executed  Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise as the Railways' projects may span across State boundaries.

As on 01.04.2022 across Indian Railway, 452 Railway projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) of 49,323 Km  length, costing approx. ` 7.33 lakh crore are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution,  out  of  which  11,518  Km  length  has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. ` 2.35 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2022. These include:-

(i) 183 New line projects of 20,937 Km length, costing approx. ` 4.0 lakh  crore,  out  of  which  2,831  Km  length  has  been  commissioned and  an  expenditure  of  approx. ` 1.13  lakh  crore  has  been  incurred upto March, 2022.

- (ii)  42  Gauge  Conversion  projects  of  5,667  Km  length,  costing ` 50,250 crore, out of which 3,488 Km length has been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` 19,235  crore  has  been incurred upto March, 2022.

(iii)  227  Doubling  projects  of  22,719  Km  length,  costing  approx. ` 2.83 lakh crore, out of which 5,199 Km  length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. ` 1.02  lakh  crore  has been incurred upto March, 2022.

## Odisha:

As on 01.04.2022, 35 Projects (11 New Lines, 1 Gauge Conversion 55,759 crore, of planning/approval/execution, out of which, 1039 Km length has been 21,729  crore  has  been and 23 Doubling) of  total length 4,609 Km, costing ` falling fully/partly in Odisha are under different stages commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` incurred upto March, 2022.

Odisha  is  covered  by  East  Coast  Railway,  South  Eastern  Railway and  South  East  Central  Railway.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of Railway  projects  including  cost,  expenditure  and  outlay  are  made i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in >Ministry of  Railways > Railway  Board > About  Indian  Railways  > Railway Board Directorates >Finance wise  Works available in public domain on Indian Railways website (Budget) >Rail Budget/Pink Book  (Year)> Railway Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

The  completion  of  any  Railway  project(s)  depends  on  various factors  like  quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of cost share by State Government in cost sharing projects, 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. and all these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project(s), which is finally worked out at the completion stage. As such the confirmed time frame for completion of projects cannot be ascertained at this stage.  However, Railways is making all the efforts for expeditious completion of projects.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in fund allocation and  commensurate  commissioning  of  Projects.  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  2009-14, which  is  392%  more  than  the  Average  Annual  Budget  allocation during  2009-14.   These  allocations  have  been increased  to ` 4,568 crore  in  Financial  Year  2019-20  (445%  more  than  the  Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ` 5,296 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (532% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14)  and ` 6,471  crore  for  Financial  Year  2021-22  (672%  more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14). For Financial Year 2022-23, highest ever Budget outlay of ` 9,734 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 1062% more than the Average Annual Budget outlay of 2009-14 ( ` 838 crore per year).

Various  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  effective  and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritization of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close  monitoring  of  progress  of project at various levels,  and  (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. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in rate of commissioning of New  Line, Gauge Conversion and doubling projects. During 2009-14, 267 km sections (56 km New line, 83 km Gauge  conversion  and  128  km  Doubling),  falling  fully/partly  in  the State  of  Odisha,  have  been  commissioned  at  an  average  rate  of 53.40 km per year.  These commissioning, during 2014-22 has been increased to 1135 km (264 km New line and 871km  Doubling), at an average  rate  of  141.88  km  per  year,  which  is  166%  more  than average  annual  commissioning  achieved  during  2009-14  (53.40 km/year).

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