Lok Sabha Question No. 1086 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-08
Subject: Status of Pending Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Parbatbhai Savabhai Patel, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Pradeep Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1086 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2023

## STATUS OF PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS

† 1086. SHRI PARBATBHAI SAVABHAI PATEL: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA: SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH : :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  current  status  of  pending  rail  projects  in  various  railway zones of the country including Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Gujarat State/Project-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has taken any steps to complete said projects on time; and
- (c) if  so,  the  time  by  which  the  pending  projects  in  Jammu, Poonch, Araria and Banaskantha are likely to be completed?

## 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. 1086 BY SHRI PARBATBHAI SAVABHAI PATEL, SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA AND SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.02.2023 REGARDING STATUS OF PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS

(a) to (c): The Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and  not  State-wise  as  the  Railways'  projects  may  spans  across State  boundaries.  As  on  01.04.2022,  across  Indian  Railways,  452 Railway Infrastructure projects (183 New Line, 42 Gauge Conversion and 227 Doubling) of total length 49,323 Km, 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.

Zone-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 (RSP).

## Jammu & Kashmir:

As  on  01.04.2022,  01  New  Line  Project  of    total  length  of  272  Km, costing  ₹37,012  crore,  falling  in  the  UT  of  Jammu  &  Kashmir  is  in different stages of execution, out of which 111 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹26,786 crore has been incurred upto March, 2022.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and  commensurate  commissioning of projects. Average Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects & safety works, falling fully/  partly  in  State  of  Jammu & Kashmir, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ₹1,726 crore per year from ₹1,044 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 65% more than Average Annual Budget allocation during 2009-14. These allocations have been increased to ₹1,911 crore in Financial Year 2019-20 (83% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹3,895 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (273% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ₹4,294  crore  in  Financial  Year  2021-22  (311%  more  than  the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14). For Financial Year 202223, highest ever Budget outlay of ₹5,983 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 473% more than the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14 (₹1,044 crore per year).

During 2014-22, 32 Km length (25 Km New Line and 7 Km Doubling projects)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Jammu  &  Kashmir  have been commissioned at an average rate 4 Km/year.

## Bihar:

Similarly,  as  on  01.04.2022,  52  Railway  projects  (32  new  lines,  04 gauge  conversions  and  16  doublings)  of  total  length  of  5,004  Km, costing ₹66,597 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are in different stages of planning/approval/execution, out of which 1,240 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of  ₹21,038 crore has been incurred upto March, 2022.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and  commensurate  commissioning of projects. Average Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects & safety works, falling fully/  partly  in  State  of  Bihar,  during  2014-19  has  been  enhanced to ₹3,061 crore per year from ₹1,132 crore per year during 2009-14, which  is  170%  more  than  Average  Annual  Budget  allocation  during 2009-14.  These  allocations have been increased to ₹4,093  crore  in Financial Year 2019-20 (262% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹4,489 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (297% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ₹5,560  crore  in  Financial  Year  2021-22  (391%  more  than  the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14). For Financial Year 202223, highest ever Budget outlay of ₹6,606 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 484% more than the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14 (₹1,132 crore per year).

During 2014-22, 1096 Km length (317 Km New Lines, 425 Km Gauge Conversion  and  354  Km  Doubling)  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State  of  Bihar  have  been  commissioned  at  an  average  rate  137 Km/year, which is 115% more than the commissioning during 2009-14 (63.6 Km/year Km).

## Gujarat:

As  on  01.04.2022,  34  Railway  projects  (04  new  line,  19  gauge conversion  and  11  doubling)  of  total  length    3,727  Km,  costing ₹30,740  crore,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Gujarat  are  in different  stages  of  planning/approval/execution,  out  of  which  1,053 Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹10,085 crore has been incurred upto March, 2022.

Since  2014,  Average  Annual  Budget  Allocation  on  infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in Gujarat during 201419 has been increased to ` 3,327 crore per year from ` 589 crore per year  during  2009-14.  Thus,  the  average  annual  Budget  allocation during  2014-19  is  465%  more  than  average  annual  allocation  of 2009-14.  Budget allocation for these projects has been increased to ` 4,803  crore  in  financial  year  2019-20  (716%  more  than  average annual budget allocation of 2009-14), ` 4,071 crore in financial year 2020-21 (591% more than average annual Budget outlay of 2009-14) and ` 4,924 crore in financial year 2021-22 (736% more than average annual budget outlay during 2009-14). Budget outlay of ` 4,745 crore has  been  provided  for  these  projects  for  financial  year  2022-23 which is 706% more than average annual budget outlay during 200914.

During 2014-22, 1294 km sections (142 km New line, 607 km Gauge conversion and 545 km Doubling), falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, have been commissioned at an average rate of 161.75 km per year, which is 22.54% more than average annual commissioning achieved during 2009-14 (132 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  cost  sharing  authorities  in  cost  sharing  project(s),  priority  of project(s),  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 ..P/5

working  months    in    a  year  for  particular  project  site  etc.  and  all these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project(s). With above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project(s) expeditiously.

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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