Lok Sabha Question No. 212 (STARRED), answered on 2022-12-21
Subject: New Railway Projects in Madhya Pradesh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Uday Pratap Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 212

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.12.2022

## NEW RAILWAY PROJECTS IN MADHYA PRADESH

†*212. SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  working  on  any  plan  to  start  a  new railway project in Madhya Pradesh, if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be implemented;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  received  any  demand/proposal  from the State Government in this regard, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  operations  of  many  trains  were  discontinued  and  the schedules of many trains were modified due to Corona pandemic in Madhya Pradesh, if so, the details of th trains which have not been re-started so far;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  carried  out  any  assessment  for estimation  of  losses  incurred  due  to  discontination  of  the  said trains, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  measures  taken/likely  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  in  this regard?

## 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. 212 BY SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK  SABHA  ON  21.12.2022  REGARDING  NEW  RAILWAY  PROJECTS  IN MADHYA PRADESH

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

Proposals/suggestions/representations,  both  formal  and  informal, including  that  from  Hon'ble  Members  of  Parliament  are  received  at various levels of Railway Administration viz. Division, Zonal Headquarter and Railway Board's level for introduction of new lines, Gauge conversion,  Doubling  etc.,  a  compendium  of  which  is  not  maintained. However, these are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time.

As  on  01.04.2022,  33  Railway  projects  (08  new  lines,  02  gauge conversion and 23 doubling), costing ` 84,469 crore for 5,872 km length, falling  fully/partly  in  Madhya  Pradesh  are  under  different  stages  of planning/approval/execution.  Out  of  which,  1,319  km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` 23,780  crore  has  been  incurred upto March 2022. These include:

-  08 New Line Projects covering total length of 1,979 km at a cost of ` 36,163  crore, out of which 355 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 6,606 crore has been incurred upto March 22.
-  02 Gauge Conversion Projects covering total length of 780 km at a cost  of ` 10,764  crore,  out  of  which  279  km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` 3,015 crore has  been incurred upto March 22.

-  23 Doubling Projects covering total length of 3,113 km at a cost of ` 37,542 crore, out of which 685 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 14,159 crore has been incurred upto March 22.

Presently, 29 Nos. of Surveys (12 New Line and 17 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Madhya Pradesh having a total length of 2842

Km have been taken up and are in different stages of progress.

Railway projects in Madhya Pradesh are covered by North Central Railway,  North  Western  Railway,  West  Central  Railway,  East  Central Railway,  Western  Railway,  Central  Railway,  South  Central  Railway  and South  East  Central  Railway  Zones  of  Indian  Railways.  The  details  of Railway projects including allotment of funds and expenditure, projectwise  and  Zonal  Railway  wise  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),  Pink  Book  (year)>Railway  wise  Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allotment for infrastructure projects. Average annual Budget allocation for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Madhya Pradesh, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ` 4,213 crore per year from ` 632 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 567% more  than  average  annual  Budget  allocation  during  2009-14.  Annual Budget  allocations  on  these  projects  have  been  increased  to ` 6,906 crore in Financial Year 2019-20 (993% more than average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ` 6,509 crore in Financial Year 2020-21(930% more …P/3

than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ` 9,041 crore in Financial Year 2021-22 (1331% more than the average annual Budget allocation  of  2009-14).  For  Financial  Year  2022-23,  the  highest  ever Budget allocation of ` 12,110 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 1816% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 200914 ( ` 632 crore per year).

During 2014-22, 1515 km sections (293 km New line, 631 km Gauge conversion  and  591  km  Doubling),  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Madhya Pradesh, have been commissioned at an average rate of 189.38 km per year,  which  is  553%  more  than  average  annual  commissioning achieved during 2009-14 (29 km per year).

Completion  of  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/s  site,  number  of working months in a year for particular project site etc. All these factors affect  the  completion  time  of  the  project/s.    With  above  constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project/s expeditiously.

(c) to (e): With a view to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, Indian Railways  had  discontinued  the  operation  of all  regular  passenger carrying trains with effect from 23rd March, 2020 and only special train services  were  being  operated.  Indian  Railways  have  also  undertaken rationalization of time table, including rationalization of train services, in a scientific manner with the assistance of IIT-Bombay. The exercise has been undertaken inter alia to provide for better passenger safety by

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creating  maintenance  corridor  blocks,  minimizing  conflicts  in  existing time table to improve punctuality and generation of additional path for freight traffic. At present, all train services are being operated as per the rationalized  time  table  and  passenger  services  are  being  operated  in phased manner.  However, Indian Railways do not run train services on State-wise basis as Railway network straddle across State boundaries. Train-wise figures of losses are not maintained.

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