Lok Sabha Question No. 212 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Railway Works in Maharashtra
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Vinayak Bhaurao Raut

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 212 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## RAILWAY WORKS IN MAHARASHTRA

## †*212. SHRI SANJAY JADHAV: SHRI VINAYAK RAUT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number  of new  railway lines laid, gauge  conversion, doubling and electrification works done by the Railways across the country including Maharashtra during the last five years;
- (b) the present status of Parbhani-Purna Junction;
- (c) whether any hindrance or difficulty/delay is being faced by the Railways  in  implementing/completing  the  said  projects  in  the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof particularly in Maharashtra during the last five years;
- (e) whether the difficulties have since been resolved and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether land has been acquired from farmers at many places;
- (g) if  so,  whether  any  compensation  has  been  given  to  these farmers; and
- (h) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (h): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (h)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 212 BY SHRI SANJAY JADHAV AND SHRI VINAYAK RAUT TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 15.03.2023 REGARDING RAILWAY WORKS IN MAHARASHTRA

(a):   The Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not  State  wise  as  the  Railways'  projects  may  span  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 49,323 Km length, 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  status  of  commissioning  of  New  lines,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling  projects  across  Indian  Railways  including  Maharashtra during the last five years is summarized below:-

(in kms)

| Plan Head        |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   2022-23 (Upto Feb'2023) |
|------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------------------------|
| New Lines        |       409 |       480 |       360 |       286 |       289 |                      1630 |
| Gauge Conversion |       454 |       597 |       408 |       470 |       636 |                       159 |
| Doubling         |       999 |      2519 |      1458 |      1614 |      1983 |                      2654 |
| Total            |      1862 |      3596 |      2226 |      2370 |      2908 |                      4443 |

..P/2

Railway lines of 30,123 Route Kilometre (RKM) have been electrified across  the  country  during  the  last  five  years  and  current  year  i.e. Yr. 2017-18 to Yr. 2022-23 which includes railway lines of 2,555 RKM falling in the state of Maharashtra. The details are given below:-

| Year                         | Route Km(RKM) Electrified across the country   | Route Km(RKM) Electrified in the State of Maharashtra   |
|------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18                      | 4,087                                          | 363                                                     |
| 2018-19                      | 5,276                                          | 288                                                     |
| 2019-20                      | 4,378                                          | 210                                                     |
| 2020-21                      | 6,015                                          | 637                                                     |
| 2021-22                      | 6,366                                          | 584                                                     |
| 2022-23(upto February, 2023) | 4,001                                          | 473                                                     |
| TOTAL                        | 30,123                                         | 2,555                                                   |

## Maharashtra

As on 01.04.2022, 34 Railway Infrastructure projects (16 New line, 02  Gauge  Conversion  and  16  Doubling),  of  total  length  6,118  km costing ₹ 80,079 crore falling fully/ partly in the State of Maharashtra, are in different stages of planning/ approval/ execution, out  of  which  1,154  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure  of ₹ 21,297  crore  incurred  upto  March,  2022.  These include-

- (i) 16 New Line projects covering total length of 2,017 km at a cost of ₹ 38,359 crore, out of which 93 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 5,084 crore has been incurred upto March 2022.

- 2 Gauge Conversion projects covering total length of 580 km 7,062 crore, out of which 279 km length has 2,404 crore has
- (ii) at  a  cost  of ₹ been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ been incurred upto March 2022.
- (iii) 16 Doubling projects covering total length of 3,521 km at a cost of ₹ 34,658 crore, out of which 782 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 13,809 crore has been incurred upto March 2022.

Railway  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Maharashtra  are  covered  under  Central  Railway,  South  Central Railway,  South  East  Central  Railway,  South  Western  Railway  and Western Railway Zones of Indian Railways. Zone-wise and Year-wise details  of  Railway  projects  including  their  cost,  expenditure  and outlay  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railways Railways Board Directorates  >Finance  (Budget)  >Rail  Budget/Pink  Book  (Year)>

website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in >Ministry of >Railway Board >About Indian Railways >Railway Railway-wise Works, Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

- (b):   Parbhani-Purna doubling is a part of MudkhedParbhani Doubling Project (81.43 km) and has already been commissioned in February, 2020.
- (c) to (h):   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 due to climatic conditions etc. and 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.

For  Railway projects in Maharashtra land acquisition of total 5779 ha  revenue  land  and  Forestry  land  diversion  of  360  ha  forest  land has been taken up, out of these 4566 ha revenue land and  Forest land diversion of 80 ha forest land has been completed and balance land acquisition of 1213 ha revenue land and Forest land diversion of 279 ha forest land is in different stages.

Railway acquires the land through concerned district authorities of state  government.  Railway  deposits  the  requisite  compensation amount as per land acquisition act with land acquisition authorities. Disbursement  of  compensation  to  land  owners  is  made  by  State Government authorities.

Various  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  effective  and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti Directorate in Ministry of Railways and Gati Shakti Units in divisions  (ii)  prioritisation  of  projects   (iii)  substantial  increase  in allocation of funds  (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.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in fund allocation for  infrastructure  and  safety  work  projects  and  commensurate commissioning  of  projects.  Average  annual  Budget  allocation  for infrastructure  projects  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 allocation during 2009-14. Annual budget allocation on these projects have been increased to ₹ 7,281  crore  in  Financial  Year  2019-20  (522%  more  than  average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 6,700 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (472% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 8,547 crore in Financial Year 2021-22 (630% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 11,903 crore in Financial Year 2022-23 (916% more than the average annual Budget allocation  of  2009-14).  For  Financial  Year  2023-24,  highest  ever Budget  allocation  of ₹ 13,539  crore  has  been  proposed  for  these projects,  which  is  1056%  more  than  the  average  annual  Budget allocation of 2009-14 ( ₹ 1,171 crore per year).

During 2014-22, 1141 Km sections (118 Km of New line, 136 km of Gauge Conversion and 887 Km of Doubling), falling fully/partly in the state of Maharashtra, have been commissioned at an average rate of 142.63 Km per year which is 144% more than commissioning during 2009-14 (58.4km/year)

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