Lok Sabha Question No. 51 (STARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Survey for New Railway Lines
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rajendra Dhedya  Gavit, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 51

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## SURVEY FOR NEW RAILWAY LINES

- *51. SHRI RAJENDRA DHEDYA GAVIT: SHRI UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of survey approved for new railway lines in the country during  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year  along  with  the present  status  thereof,  zone/section-wise  particularly  in  the  Lok Sabha constituencies of Kutch, Arambagh, Jalgaon, Palghar  and Bhadohi;
- (b) the details of funds allocated and spent on these surveys during the last three years, zone-wise;
- (c) whether the Railways has sanctioned projects for laying of new railway lines  for  which  surveys  have  already  been  completed,  if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor, zone/section-wise;
- (d) whether any time frame has been fixed to reach a final decision on  the  completed  survey  reports  for  laying  of  new  railway  lines and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  expedite  the projects for which surveys have already been completed?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 51 BY SHRI RAJENDRA DHEDYA GAVIT AND SHRI  UNMESH  BHAIYYASAHEB  PATIL  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 20.07.2022 REGARDING SURVEY FOR NEW RAILWAY LINES

- (a): New  Railway  line projects are surveyed/ sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not Parliamentary constituency wise as the Railways' surveys/projects may span across State/UT boundaries.

In  the  last  three  years  i.e.  2019-20,  2020-21,  2021-22  and  current Financial year 2022-23, 104 surveys for New Lines of a total length of 7652 km have been approved throughout the country including those falling fully/partly in parliamentary constituencies of Kutch, Arambagh, Jalgaon,  Palghar  and  Bhadohi.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  these surveys are given below:-

|   SN | Zone                  |   No. of New line surveys approved. |   Total Length (in km) |
|------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------|
|    1 | Central Railway       |                                   6 |                    784 |
|    2 | East Coast Railway    |                                  14 |                    923 |
|    3 | East Central Railway  |                                  10 |                    638 |
|    4 | Eastern Railway       |                                   3 |                    119 |
|    5 | North Central Railway |                                   2 |                    255 |
|    6 | North Eastern Railway |                                   3 |                    241 |
|    7 | Northeast Frontier    |                                   6 |                    584 |
|    8 | Northern Railway      |                                  16 |                    556 |
|    9 | North Western Railway |                                   8 |                    795 |
|   10 | South Central Railway |                                   1 |                     75 |

|   11 | South East Central    |   10 |   1232 |
|------|-----------------------|------|--------|
|   12 | South Eastern Railway |    6 |    388 |
|   13 | Southern Railway      |    2 |    135 |
|   14 | South Western Railway |    6 |    417 |
|   15 | West Central Railway  |    4 |     95 |
|   16 | Western Railway       |    7 |    415 |

## (b): The details of funds allocated Zonal Railway wise surveys taken up during the last three years i.e. Financial Year 2019-20 to 2021-22 and  funds  allocated  in  the  current  Financial  Year  2022-23  alongwith expenditure incurred on surveys during the last three Financial Years i.e. 2019-2020, 2020-21, 2021-22 are given below:-

|   SN | Railway      |   Funds allocated for surveys (Revised Estimate) in last 03 years 2019-20 to 2021-22 ( ` in crore) |   *Expenditure incurred on surveys in the last 03 years 2019-20,2020-21 and 2021-22 ( ` in crore) |   Funds allocated for surveys in FY 2022-23 (Budget Estimate) ( ` in crore) |
|------|--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | Central      |                                                                                              17.63 |                                                                                              6.15 |                                                                        6.29 |
|    2 | East Central |                                                                                              23.7  |                                                                                              2.56 |                                                                        0.56 |
|    3 | East Coast   |                                                                                               4.07 |                                                                                              0.38 |                                                                        3.59 |
|    4 | Eastern      |                                                                                               1.97 |                                                                                              0.73 |                                                                        1    |

|   5 | North Central   |   5.10 |   1.27 |   1.07 |
|-----|-----------------|--------|--------|--------|
|   6 | North Eastern   |  10.68 |   1.68 |  10.13 |
|   7 | North Western   |  13.91 |   8.56 |   3.81 |
|   8 | Northeast       |  12.98 |  12.15 |   6.3  |
|   9 | Northern        | 106.97 |  73    |   7.6  |
|  10 | South Central   |  14.3  |   5.69 |   7.72 |
|  11 | South East      |   3.99 |   0.9  |   1.84 |
|  12 | South Eastern   |  10.69 |   4.92 |   6.83 |
|  13 | South Western   |   5.91 |   2.65 |   2.46 |
|  14 | Southern        |   9.99 |   4.81 |   4.29 |
|  15 | West Central    |   3.16 |   1.02 |   0.46 |
|  16 | Western         |   9.7  |   4.93 |   3.54 |

(*Includes actual expenditure for FY 2019-20, 2020-21 and provisional expenditure for 2021-22)

(c): Yes, Sir. Out of the surveys completed in the last 03 years i.e.   FY 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and the current Financial year, 09 New Line projects have been sanctioned. Zonal Railway wise details are as under:-

| Railway       |   No. of new line projects sanctioned in the last three years and current year. |   Total length (in kms) |
|---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| Central       |                                                                              01 |                     108 |
| East Coast    |                                                                              01 |                      14 |
| North Eastern |                                                                              01 |                      81 |

| North Western      |   02 |    59 |
|--------------------|------|-------|
| Northeast Frontier |   01 |   2.7 |
| South Western      |   03 | 194   |

(d): Detailed Project Report (DPR) is prepared for those projects which are  found  feasible  after  survey.  Projects  are  appraised  based  on parameters brought out in DPR. After firming up of various parameters, further sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stateholders  including  State  Governments  and  necessary  approvals  viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog., approval of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs  etc.  As  sanctioning  of  projects  is  a  continuous  and  dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed.

(e):  Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  sanction  and implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati  Shakti units (ii) prioritisation 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.

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