Lok Sabha Question No. 2591 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-10
Subject: Talcher-Bimlagarh New Railway Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Mahesh Sahoo, Jual Oram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2591 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.03.2021

## TALCHER-BIMLAGARH NEW RAILWAY LINE

2591.  SHRI MAHESH SAHOO: SHRI JUAL ORAM:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether slow progress in the construction of new railway line from Talcher to Bimlagarh has been noticed by the Government and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (b)    whether the Government is likely to make necessary arrangements for the speedy completion of the works;
- (c)  if so, the progress of the Angul to Sukinda loop line and the time by when the work is likely to be completed; and
- (d)  the  details  of  the  funds  that  have  been  sanctioned  for  the  said project?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (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. 2591 BY SHRI MAHESH SAHOO AND SHRI JUAL ORAM TO BE ANSWERED  IN LOK SABHA ON 10.03.2021 REGARDING  TALCHER-BIMLAGARH NEW RAILWAY LINE

(a) and (b):  Railway has taken up the work of Talcher-Bimlagarh (150 km) New Line project.  The anticipated cost of the project is ` 1928 crore.  So far,  an  expenditure  of ` 839  crore  has  been  incurred.    Budget  outlay  of ` 140 crore has been provided in the Budget 2020-21 for this project. So far,  20  km  long  Talcher-Sunakhani  section  of  the  project  has  been completed.    Further  work  has  been  taken  up  in  23.5  km  length  from Sunakhani  station,  km  20.00  to  km  43.50.  The  State  Government  of Odisha has to expedite land acquisition and handing over of balance 916 acre land.

Completion of any Railway project 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  available  in  a  year  for  particular  project  site  due  to  climatic conditions.  All these factors affect the completion time of the project.

To ensure that project is completed in time without cost overrun, lot of monitoring is done in Railways at various levels (field level, Zonal level and Board level) and regular meetings are held with the officials of State Government  and  concerned  authorities  to  resolve  the  pending  issues obstructing the progress of projects.

(c) and (d): Angul Sukinda (104 km) rail project is being executed by the Joint Venture (JV) company Angul Sukinda Railway Limited (ASRL) under concession by Ministry of Railways under participative mode. The project is under progress and targeted for completion by June, 2022.

The project is being executed under PPP mode and the funding is sourced from equity and debt of the JV company ASRL.

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