Lok Sabha Question No. 4420 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-20
Subject: Coastal Railway Corridor in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Tangella Uday Srinivas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4420

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025

## COASTAL RAILWAY CORRIDOR IN ANDHRA PRADESH

4420. SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  for  the  construction  of  a dedicated Coastal Railway Corridor in Andhra Pradesh particularly to  connect  key  coastal  towns  such  as  Annavaram,  Kakinada, Machilipatnam and Bapatla;
- (b) if so, the details and current status of the proposal including any feasibility studies conducted or sanctioned;
- (c)  whether  the  Government has  assessed  the  potential  economic benefits  of  such  a  corridor  in  terms  of  facilitating  agricultural exports, fisheries, petroleum logistics and coastal tourism and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the details of the estimated cost, proposed timeline and funding pattern for the project, if approved; and
- (e) the details of the steps being taken to expedite the development of rail infrastructure to improve port connectivity and boost economic activity along the Andhra Pradesh coastline?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (e)        To  improve  the  connectivity  in  Coastal  area  of  Andhra Pradesh, Kotapalli-Narsapur new line project of 57 km costing Rs.2120

crore has been taken sanctioned. Work on important bridges and Land acquisition have been taken up.

Kakinanda is already connected to Annavaram via Samalkot through double line section.

To  further  improve  the  connectivity  of  Coastal  region  of  Andhra Pradesh  and  ports,  following surveys  have  been  sanctioned  for preparation of the Detailed Project Report(DPR):

1. Haridaspur-Vizianagram 4 th  line (450 km)
2. Bapatla-Repalle new line (46 km)
3. Machilipatnam-Repalle new line (45 km)
4. Narsapur-Machilipatnam new line (74 km)
5. Kottavalasa-Anakapalle bypass (35 km)
6. Nidadavolu-Duvvada 3 rd  and 4 th  line (198 km)

After  firming  up  of  Detailed  Project  Report  (DPR),  sanctioning  of project  requires  consultation  with  various  stake-holders  including State  Governments  and  necessary  approvals  viz.  appraisal  of  NITI Aayog,  Ministry of Finance  etc.As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed.

The completion of any Railway project 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.

## Andhra Pradesh

Budget  allocation  in  the  recent  years  has  increased  significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh is as under:-

| Year      | Budget outlay                      | Increase w.r.t. average annual allocation during 2009-14   |
|-----------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-2014 | ₹886 cr/year (including Telangana) | -                                                          |
| 2025-2026 | 9417 cr                            | More than 11 times                                         |

Commissioning  of  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Andhra Pradesh is as under:

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | change w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 363 km                      | 72.6 km/Year                  | -                                                    |
| 2014-25  | 1,582 km                    | 143.82 km/ Year               | More than 4 times                                    |

As  on  01.04.2025,  39  projects(12  New  Lines  and  27  Doubling), covering total length of 4,498km length, costing ₹70,231crore, falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh, are sanctioned, out of which 1,179 km length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹28,039  crore has  been  incurred  upto  March  2025.  The  status  of  the  work  is summarized as:

| Category    |   No. of sanction ed projects |   Total Length (in km) |   Length Commissioned (Km) | Expupto March 2025 (₹. in cr.)   |
|-------------|-------------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------|
| New Line    |                            12 |                   1595 |                        199 | 6413                             |
| Double Line |                            27 |                   3904 |                        979 | 21626                            |
| TOTAL       |                            39 |                   4499 |                       1178 | 28,039                           |

Railway  projects  are  surveyed/  sanctioned/executed  Zonal  Railway wise  and  not  State-wise/Division-wise  as  the  Railway  projects  may span across State boundaries. Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated  lines,  demands  raised  by  State  Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway's own operational requirement, socioeconomic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

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