Lok Sabha Question No. 22 (STARRED), answered on 2024-07-24
Subject: Extension of Railway Tracks
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Kirsan Namdeo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 22 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2024

## EXTENSION OF RAILWAY TRACKS

*22.  DR. KIRSAN NAMDEO:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  new  railway  tracks  extended,  the  number  of  trains started and the amount spent in this regard in the country particularly in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra since the year 2014 till date, year-wise;
- (b) the  number  of  new  projects  announced  since  2014  till  date  in  the country particularly for Gadchiroli; and
- (c) the number and details of projects, out of these projects, sanctioned and the budget allocation made in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING 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 STARRED QUESTION  NO.  22  BY  DR.  KIRSAN  NAMDEO  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 24.07.2024 REGARDING EXTENSION OF RAILWAY TRACKS

(a): The Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not  State-wise/  district  wise  as  the  Railways'  projects may span across state boundaries.

As on 01.04.2024, across Indian Railways including Gadchiroli, 488 Railway Infrastructure  projects  (187  New  Line,  40  Gauge  Conversion  and  261 Doubling) of total length 44,488 Km, costing approx.  7.44 lakh crore are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 12,045 Km length has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  approx. 2.92  lakh  crore  has been incurred upto March, 2024.

Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway Projects including cost, expenditure  and  outlay  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian Railways website.

To cater to the needs of passengers, 1926 train services were introduced in  Indian Railways (IR) during the period 2014-15 to 2023-2024. However, as the Railway network straddles across State/District boundaries, trains are  introduced,  as  per  network  requirement,  across  such  boundaries. Wadsa  station,  which  primarily  caters  to  the  needs  of  passengers  of Gadchiroli  District  of  Maharashtra,  is  presently  being  served  by  15  train services (in single). Besides, passengers of Wadsa may also avail services from  Nagbhir,  which  is  30  km  away.  Moreover,  introduction  of  train services is an ongoing process on Indian Railways subject to operational feasibility, traffic justification etc.

## The Average Annual Budget allocation for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects across Indian Railways is given below:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 11,527 crore/year | -                                               |
| 2023-24  | 67,199 crore      | Nearly 6 times                                  |

The  details  of  commissioning  of  New  Lines,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling sections across Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | Increase w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 km                    | 4.2 km/day                    | -                                                      |
| 2014-24  | 31,180 km                   | 8.54 km/day                   | More than 2 times                                      |

## MAHARASHTRA

As on 01.04.2024, 41 projects (16 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 23 Doubling),  of  total  length  of  5,877  Km,  costing 81,580  crore  falling fully/partly  in  Maharashtra  including  Gadchiroli  are  in  planning/approval/ construction stage, out of which 1,926 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of  31,236 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra including Gadchiroli are covered under Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway, South Western Railway and Western Railway Zones of Indian Railways.

Average  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, falling fully/ partly in Maharashtra is as under:

| Period   | Average Outlay   | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 1,171 crore/year | -                                                                  |
| 2023-24  | 13,539 Crore     | Nearly 11.6 times                                                  |

The  details  of  commissioning  of  New  Lines,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling  sections  falling  fully/partly  in  the  state  of  Maharashtra  is  as under:

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | Change w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 292 km                      | 58.4 km/Year                  | -                                                    |
| 2014-24  | 1,830 km                    | 183 km/Year                   | About 3.13 times                                     |

(b) & (c): During  the  last  10  years  i.e.  from  FY  2014-15  till  FY  2023-24, across Indian Railways, 401 Projects (74 New Line, 31 Gauge Conversion and  296  Doubling)  of  total  length  30,059  km  costing  approx. 3.67  lakh crore have been included in the budget, out of which 37 projects (12 New Line,  01  Gauge  Conversion  and  24  Doubling)  of  total  length  of  5284  Km, costing  60,041 Crore fall fully / partly in the State of Maharashtra including Gadchiroli, whereas, during the last 10 years i.e. FY 2014-15 till FY 202324, across Indian Railways, 309 projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) of total length 19,748 km, costing approx. 2.32 lakh crore have been  sanctioned  which  include  26 projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion

and  Doubling)  of  total  length  of  3192  km,  costing 32,250  crore  falling fully/partly in Maharashtra including Gadchiroli.

Wadsa-Gadchiroli  (52  km)  new  rail  line  project  has  been  sanctioned  on 50:50 cost sharing basis with Government of Maharashtra. An expenditure of ₹337.36 crore has been incurred on the project till March'2024. In 202324  complete  land  (220.46  Ha)  has  been  acquired  and  Forest/Wildlife clearance have been received.

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).

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