Lok Sabha Question No. 1839 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-08
Subject: New Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar, Krupal Balaji Tumane

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1839 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2021

## NEW RAILWAY PROJECTS

†1839.  SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR: SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of new railway projects sanctioned in the country including Maharashtra, specially Osmanabad (parliamentary constituency) during the last five years, zone-wise;
- (b) the  details  of  railway  projects  completed  ahead  of  schedule  and  the name  of  projects  which  are  pending  in  Maharashtra,  specially  in Osmanabad (parliamentary constituency);
- (c) the  details  of  delayed  projects  whose  cost  has  increased  along  with the  reasons  for  the  delay  and  the  time  by  when  these  projects  are likely to be completed; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## 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. 1839 BY SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR AND SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.12.2021 REGARDING NEW RAILWAY PROJECTS.

- (a): The Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not Statewise  as  the  Railways'  projects  may  span  across  various  State  boundaries. The details of new Railway projects (Zone wise) of  New line, Doubling and Gauge  Conversion  included  in  the  Budget  subject  to  requisite  approvals during the last 5 years are as under:-

| Zonal Railway              |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|----------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Central Railway            |         7 |         3 |         4 |         2 |         0 |
| Eastern Railway            |         2 |         0 |         0 |         1 |         0 |
| East Central Railway       |         7 |         1 |         4 |         5 |         0 |
| East Coast Railway         |         2 |         1 |         1 |         2 |         0 |
| Northern Railway           |         6 |         7 |         2 |         8 |         0 |
| North Central Railway      |         9 |         5 |        10 |         1 |         0 |
| North Eastern Railway      |         9 |         5 |         0 |         1 |         0 |
| Northeast Frontier Railway |         2 |         5 |         0 |         2 |         1 |
| North Western Railway      |         0 |         2 |         2 |         5 |         0 |
| Southern Railway           |         2 |         1 |         2 |         4 |         0 |
| South Central Railway      |         1 |         1 |         1 |         3 |         0 |
| South Eastern Railway      |         3 |         2 |         5 |         4 |         0 |
| South East Central Railway |         2 |         0 |         1 |         1 |         0 |
| South Western Railway      |         1 |         1 |         6 |         3 |         0 |
| Western Railway            |         3 |        20 |         3 |         2 |         0 |
| West Central Railway       |         3 |         0 |         0 |         2 |         0 |

One  New  line  project  Solapur-Tuljapur-Osmanabad  (84.40  Km)  has  been sanctioned during 2018-19.

As  on  01.04.2021,  35  Projects  costing ` 91,137  crore  for  6,142  km  length falling  fully/partly  in  Maharashtra  including  Osmanabad  are  under  different stages of planning/ approval/ execution, out of which 906 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 18,008 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021. These include-

-  16  New  Line  Projects  covering  a  length  of  2,017  km  at  a  cost  of ` 49,221 crore, out of which 62 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 4,563 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.
-  2 Gauge Conversion Projects covering a length of 580 km at a cost of ` 6,261 crore, out of which 277 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 2,261 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.
-  17 Doubling Projects covering a length of 3,545 km at a cost of ` 35,655 crore,  out  of  which  567  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ` 11,184 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.

Maharashtra  is  covered  by  Central  Railway,  South  Central  Railway,  South East Central Railway, South Western Railway and Western Railway Zone of

Indian Railways.

Details of all ongoing 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 >Rail Budget/Pink Book (Year)> Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock

Indian Railways >Railway Board Directorates >Finance (Budget) Programme.

Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/ partly in the 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 annual budget outlay of 2009-14 and budget outlay of ` 6,700  crore  was  provided  for  these  projects  for  financial  year  2020-21 which  is  472%  more  than  average  annual  budget  outlay  of  2009-14.    For financial year 2021-22, budget outlay of ` 7,277 crore has been provided for these  works,  which  is  521%  more  with  respect  to  average  annual  budget outlay of 2009-14.

During  2014-21,  916  km  projects  (87  km  of  New  Line,  136  km  of  Gauge Conversion  and  693  km  of  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of 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).

(b)  and  (c):  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),  which  is  finally  worked  out  at  the  completion  stage.  However, Railways is making all the efforts for expeditious completion of projects.

(d): Various steps being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  prioritisation  of  projects,  (ii) substantial increase in allocation of funds, (iii) delegation of powers at field level,  (iv)  close  monitoring  of  progress  of  projects  at  various  levels  (v) 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.

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