Lok Sabha Question No. 2972 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: Doubling/Electrification of Railway Tracks
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar, Sunil Kumar Soni, Vijay Baghel, Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Devji Mansingram Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2972 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2022

## DOUBLING / ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWAY TRACKS

†2972. SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SONI:

SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the status of the ongoing projects for doubling and electrification of railway tracks under Central Railways and South Central Railways in Maharashtra,  North  Western  Railways  in  Rajasthan  and  South  East Central Railways (SECR) in Chhattisgarh, division-wise especially of Solapur and Nanded divisions;
- (b) the  projects  sanctioned  for  doubling  and  electrification  of  railway tracks  in  Maharashtra  especially  in  Pune,  Solapur  and  Nanded divisions of Central Railways, South East Central Railways  in Chhattisgarh  and  Jodhpur  division  of  North  Western  Railways  in Rajasthan during the last three years;
- (c) the reasons for the delay in the above projects and the time by which the said projects are likely to be completed; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Railways to complete these projects at the earliest?

## 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. 2972 BY SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR,  SHRI  SUNIL  KUMAR  SONI,  SHRI  VIJAY  BAGHEL,  SHRI SUDHAKAR  TUKARAM  SHRANGARE  AND  SHRI  DEVJI  M.  PATEL  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN LOK SABHA ON 03.08.2022 REGARDING DOUBLING/ ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWAY TRACKS

(a) to (d): Railway  projects  are  sanctioned  Zonal  Railway-wise  and  not State-wise or division-wise, as Indian Railways' projects may span across State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2022, 16 Doubling projects including  the  projects  under  Central  Railway  and  South  Central  Railway costing ₹ 34,658 crore for 3,521 km length falling fully/ partly in the State of Maharashtra  including  Nanded  and  Solapur  divisions  are  under  different stages  of  planning/  approval/  execution,  out  of  which  782  km  length  has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 13,809  crore  incurred  upto March, 2022.

Similarly, as on 01.04.2022, 12 Doubling projects including the projects under North Western Railway costing ₹ 29,639 crore for 2,522 km length  falling  fully/  partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  are  under  different stages  of  planning/  approval/  execution,  out  of  which  434  km  length  has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 4,860  crore  incurred  upto March, 2022.

Further,  as  on  01.04.2022,    08  Doubling  projects  (including  the projects under South East Central Railway) costing ₹ 14,087 crore for 1,340 km length falling fully/ partly in the State of Chhattisgarh are under different stages  of  planning/  approval/  execution,  out  of  which  491  km  length  has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 6,853  crore  incurred  upto March, 2022.

Details  of  projects  including  their  cost,  expenditure  and  outlay  of Central Railway (CR) and South Central Railway (SCR) (falling fully/ partly in Maharashtra),  South  East  Central  Railway  (SECR)  (falling  fully/  partly  in

Chhattisgarh)  and  North  Western  Railway  (NWR)  (falling  fully/  partly  in Rajasthan) Zones of Indian Railways 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/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  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  efforts  for  expeditious  execution  of projects.

Various steps being taken by the Railways for effective and speedy implementation  of  rail projects include  (i) setting up  of Gati  Shakti Directorate  in  Ministry  of  Railways  and  Gati  Shakti  Units  in  Divisions  (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  projects  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.

## RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION:

Railway  Electrification  projects  are  not  confined  to  State/  Union Territories (UT). However,  under  Central Railway and South Central Railway, 6 Railway Electrification projects of 1,893 km route length costing

₹ 2,085 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra have been taken up.  Under  North  Western  Railway,  12  Railway  Electrification  projects  of 3,072 km route length costing ₹ 3,058 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan have been taken up. Presently, no project has been taken up in South East Central Railway falling fully/partly in the State of Chhattisgarh.

As  all  the  balance  Broad  Gauge  routes  have  been  sanctioned  for electrification  in  2018-19,  hence,  no  electrification  projects  have  been sanctioned during last three years in Pune, Solapur and Nanded divisions of Central Railway, Jodhpur division of North Western Railway and South East Central  Railway  in  Chhattisgarh.  Further,  provision  of  electrification  are being  made  while  sanctioning  New  line,  Doubling  and  Gauge  conversion works as per due process of Indian Railways.

The  completion  of  Electrification  projects  depends  upon  various factors like clearances from the concerned Departments of State Governments/Central Ministries, completion of Transmission Line works by State Power Utilities and resolution of law & order issues during execution, which are beyond the control of Ministry of Railways. Therefore, it  is  not feasible to fix time lines for completion of the projects.

To complete the projects in time, various steps have been taken by Indian  Railways  which  include  among  others;  creation  of  'Gati  Shakti Directorate' in Railway Board for smooth and speedy approval of projects at Railway Board's level, and ensuring effective project monitoring mechanism. In addition, large size projects are being executed in Engineering  Procurement  and  Construction  (EPC)  contract  mode,  assured funding is being assured through 'Extra Budgetary Resource' (Institutional Finance) and decentralization of financial powers to field units to expedite the project execution and completion.

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