Lok Sabha Question No. 4159 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Railway Line under Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4159

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

## RAILWAY LINE UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI GATI SHAKTI

†4159.

SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM: DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  railway  line  projects  identified/launched under the Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti, the National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity for implementation in the country, particularly in Maharashtra and in its Sambhajinagar district;
- (b) the details of the routes identified for transportation of commodities like agricultural produce, fertilizers, coal, iron ore steel, cement, limestone etc.; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to provide connectivity for faster development of the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State-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.

The  launch  of  PM  Gati  Shakti  National  Master  Plan  (NMP)  has brought  transformative  approach  in  planning  and  execution  of infrastructural  transportation  projects.  The  NMP,  spanning  across the entire country has brought in synergy between the infrastructure sectors such as railways, shipping, roadways, telecommunications, pipelines, etc. through collaboration amongst concerned Ministries/State Governments/Departments, thereby bringing  in  vast  improvement  in  transportation  efficiency,  supply chain management, enhancing connectivity affecting local economies,  speeding  up  the  clearances  needed  for  the  project completion as well as planning at a faster pace.

Indian  Railways  has  imbibed  the  principles  of  Gati  Shakti  in  its project  planning  process  and  now  survey  of  all  New  Line,  Gauge Conversion and Doubling projects are taken up under PM Gati Shakti National  Master  Plan  (NMP)  for  the  development   of   multimodal connectivity  infrastructure  to  various  Economic  Zones  with  an objective    to    have    integrated    planning,    enhanced  logistics efficiency  and  remove  gaps  for  seamless  movement  of  people, goods/ commodities i.e. agricultural products, fertilizers, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, limestone etc. and services including connectivity to places of strategic importance, border areas, industrial clusters, ports, mines, power plants, villages etc.

Railway projects across Indian Railways including Maharashtra are mapped on the Gati Shakti GIS platform. PM Gati Shakti Institutional mechanism  is  being  extensively  used  for  ground  surveys,  land records,  alignment  of  route  and  has  led  to  enhancement  in  the project quality of preparation of Detailed Project Report  and planning across the country including Maharashtra.

As on 01.04.2024, across Indian Railways, 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. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No of Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (in Km)   | Length Commissioned till Mar'24 (in Km)   | Total Exp upto Mar'24 ( in Cr)   |
|--------------------------|------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| New Lines                |              187 | 20199                           | 2855                                      | 160022                           |
| Gauge Conversion         |               40 | 4719                            | 2972                                      | 18706                            |
| Doubling / Multitracking |              261 | 19570                           | 6218                                      | 113742                           |
| Total                    |              488 | 44,488                          | 12,045                                    | 2,92,470                         |

The  details  of  outlay  for  infrastructure  projects  across  Indian Railways is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                      |
|----------|-----------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 11,527 crore/year           |
| 2025-26  | 68785 crore (about 6 times) |

The  details  of  commissioning  /  laying  of  new  track  across  Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 Km                 | 4.2 Km/day                            |
| 2014-24  | 31,180 Km                | 8.54 Km/day ( more than 2 times)      |

## MAHARASHTRA

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.

As  on  01.04.2024,  41  Railway  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 the State of Maharashtra, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1,926 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹31,237 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

The status of work is summarized as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Expenditure upto March, 2024 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| New Lines               |                16 | 2,017                  | 166                           | 8,529                                     |
| Gauge Conversion        |                 2 | 609                    | 312                           | 3,332                                     |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                23 | 3,251                  | 1,448                         | 19,376                                    |
| Total                   |                41 | 5,877                  | 1,926                         | 31,237                                    |

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

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹1,171 crore/year                |
| 2025-26  | 23778 Crore (more than 20 times) |

Commissioning  of sections (New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra during 200914 and 2014-2024 is as under:-

| Period   | New track Commissioned   | Average commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 292 Km                   | 58.4 Km/year                          |
| 2014-24  | 1,830 Km                 | 183 Km/year (more than 3 times)       |

During the last three years and current year, 91 No. Surveys (New line,  Gauge Conversion and Doubling/multi tracking) of total length 7,458 km falling fully/partly in the state of Maharashtra have been sanctioned which include:

- (i) Survey for  Doubling  between  Aurangabad-Prabhani section (177 km)
- (ii) New line surveys from Ahmednagar to Aurangabad (100 km)
- (iii) Osmanabad-Beed-Aurangabad (240 km)
- (iv) Aurangabad to Chalisgaon (93 km)
- (v) Doubling of Aurangabad - Ankai (98 km)

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  approval  and implementation  of  Railway  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of  funds  on  priority projects  (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. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

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