Lok Sabha Question No. 2936 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: Incomplete Railway Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Hemant Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2936 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2022

## INCOMPLETE RAILWAY PROJECTS

† 2936.  SHRI  HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  special  policy  to complete the incomplete railway projects during the year 202122 due to which railway travel is not gaining momentum, if so the details thereof; and

(b) whether  the  Government  has  prepared  a  list  of  incomplete railway  projects  in  year  2021-22;  if  so,  the  details  thereof  in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) and (b): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  AND  (b)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2936 BY SHRI HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  03.08.2022  REGARDING INCOMPLETE RAILWAY PROJECTS

(a)  &  (b):  As  on  01.04.2022,  across  Indian  Railways,  452  Railway 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.

The 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).

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 and cost of the project(s). With above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project(s) expeditiously.

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 fund allocation for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects and commensurate commissioning of Projects in Indian Railways. The Average Annual Budget allocation for these works during 2014-19 increased to ` 26,026 crore per year from ` 11,527 crore per year during 2009-14 (126% more than average annual  budget  allocation  during  2009-14).  The  Annual  Budget  allocation increased  to ` 39,836  crore  in  Financial  Year  2019-20  (246%  more  than average  annual  budget  allocation during 2009-14), ` 43,626 crore in Financial  Year  2020-21  (278%  more  than  the  Average  Annual  Budget allocation  during  2009-14)  and ` 56,716  crore  for  Financial  year  202122(392% more than average annual budget allocation during 2009-14). For Financial  Year  2022-23,  highest-ever  budget  outlay  of ` 67,001  crore  has been provided for these works, which is 481% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

During 2014-22, across Indian Railway, 20,628 km sections (3,970 km New Line,  5,507  km  Gauge  Conversion  and  11,151  km  Doubling)  has  been commissioned at an average of 2,579 km/year which is 70% more than the average commissioning during 2009-14 (1,520 km/year).

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