Lok Sabha Question No. 2427 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-16
Subject: Pending Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sunil Baburao Mendhe

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2427 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2022

## PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS

2427. SHRI SUNIL BABURAO MENDHE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Railways has formulated any policy to complete all the  pending  projects  lagging  behind  the  schedule  by  the  year 2022 in a time bound manner;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  details  of  major  projects  pending  for  five  or  more  years  in Maharashtra?

## 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 UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2427 BY SHRI SUNIL BABURAO MENDHE TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  16.03.2022  REGARDING PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS.

(a) & (b):   As  on  01.04.2021  across  Indian  Railways,  484  Railway projects  (187  New  Line,  46  gauge  Conversion  and  251  Doubling)  of 51,165  Km  length,  costing approx. ` 7.53  lakh  crore  are  in  different stages of planning/sanction/execution, out of which, 10,638 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. ` 2.14 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.

Zonal Railway wise details of 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.

Railway has reviewed all the projects based on last mile connectivity, missing links, traffic potential on the project, capacity enhancement, availability  of  land,  forest/wild-life  clearance  etc.  and  based  on  the review,  Railway  projects  have  been  prioritized.  Presently,  Railway's focus is on completion of capacity enhancement projects and last mile connectivity projects. Budget outlay has been provided to the projects in a rationalized manner and budget has  been  allotted  to the projects

which are in advance stage of completion, priority projects, important New  Line & National projects, executable & important Gauge conversion  projects  and  the  projects  which  are  important  from  the throughput  enhancement  considerations.  Thus,  focused  attention  is given  in  fund  allotment,  rather  than  thinly  spreading  the  resources without commensurate results.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects across Indian Railways. The Average Annual Budget allocation in the Indian Railways for New Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling  projects  during  2014-19  has increased to ` 26,026 crore per year from ` 11,527 crore per year during 2009-14,  which  is  126%  more  than  average  annual  budget  outlay  of 2009-14. The Annual budget allocation for these Projects for Financial Year  2019-20  was ` 39,836  crore  (246%  more  than  average  annual budget allocation during 2009-14) and ` 43,626 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (278% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation during 2009-14).  For  Financial  year  2021-22,  highest-ever  budget  outlay  of ` 52,398  crore  has  been  provided  for  these  projects,  which  is  355% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

During 2014-21, 17,720 km length (3,681 km New Line, 4,871 km Gauge Conversion  and  9,168  km  Doubling)  has  been  commissioned  at  an average  of  2,531  km/year  which  is  67%  more  than  the  average commissioning during 2009-14 (1520 km/year).

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,  priority  of  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 of the project(s) due to which 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.

- (c): Railway  projects  are  sanctioned  Zonal  Railway  wise  and  not State-wise as Indian Railways' projects may span across various State boundaries.

## Maharashtra:

As on 01.04.2021, 35 projects (16 New Line, 2 Gauge Conversion and 91,137  crore, of planning/  approval/  execution,  out  of  which  906  km  length  has  been 18,008  crore  incurred  upto

17  Doubling)  of  a  total  length  of  6,142  km,  costing ` falling fully/partly in Maharashtra are under different stages commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` March, 2021.

Average  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety works, falling fully/ partly in State of Maharashtra, during 2014-19 has been  enhanced  to ` 4,801  crore  per  year  from ` 1,171  crore  per  year (during  2009-14)  which  is  310%  more  than  average  allocation  during 2009-14 ( ` 1171 crore/year). These allocations have been increased to ` 7,281 crore in Financial Year 2019-20 (522% more than the Average Annual  Budget  allocation  of  2009-14)  and ` 6,700  crore  in  Financial Year 2020-21 (472% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14). For Financial Year 2021-22, highest ever budget outlay of ` 8,547 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 630% more than  the  Average  Annual  Budget  Outlay  of  2009-14  ( ` 1171  crore  per year).

During  2014-21,  916  km  sections  (87  km  New  Line,  136  km  Gauge Conversion  and  693  km  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  Maharashtra have  been  commissioned  at  an  average  rate  130.86  km  per  year, which is 124% more than average commissioning during 2009-14 (58.4 km/year).

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