Lok Sabha Question No. 391 (STARRED), answered on 2025-08-20
Subject: Construction of Broad Gauge Line between Theni and Erumeli
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Thiru Thanga Tamilselvan, Dr. Ganapathy Rajkumar P

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 391 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025

## CONSTRUCTION OF BROAD GAUGE LINE BETWEEN THENI AND ERUMELI

*391. DR. GANAPATHY RAJKUMAR P: THIRU THANGA TAMILSELVAN:

Will the Minister of  RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that a tender has been floated for the survey work/site selection study to construct a broad gauge railway line between Theni Erumeli;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the amount of funds allotted; and
- (c) the details of the time  frame if any, fixed by the Government for commencement /completion of the said project?

## 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 LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  391  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON 20.08.2025.

(a)  to  (c):    Survey  of  Theni-Erumeli  new  line  (95  Km)  has  been sanctioned for preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR).

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.

## Tamil Nadu

Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly.

Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                              |
|----------|-------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹879 crore/year                     |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 6,626 crore (more than 7.5 times) |

Railway  projects  in  Tamil  Nadu  are  covered  by  Southern  Railway (SR), South Central Railway (SCR) and South Western Railway (SWR) zone  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railway's website.

As  on  01.04.2025,  15  projects  (9  New  Line,  03  Gauge  Conversion and 03 Doubling) of total length 1,700 Km, costing ₹22,808 Crore,

falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are sanctioned, out of which 665 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹7,591 Crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March' 2025.  The summary is  as under:-

| Plan Head        | No. of projects   | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Expenditure upto March 2025 (₹in Cr.)   |
|------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| New Line         | 9                 | 812                    | 24                            | 1,337                                   |
| Gauge Conversion | 3                 | 748                    | 604                           | 3,471                                   |
| Doubling         | 3                 | 140                    | 37                            | 2,783                                   |
| /Multitracking   |                   |                        |                               |                                         |
| Total            | 15                | 1700                   | 665                           | 7,591                                   |

Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are as under :

|   S. N | Project                                                       |   Cost (₹in Crores) |
|--------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|      1 | Dindigal Palani Pollachi Gauge Conversion (121 km)            |                 610 |
|      2 | Pollachi Palghat Gauge Conversion (56 km)                     |                 350 |
|      3 | Pollachi Podhanur Gauge Conversion (40 km)                    |                 400 |
|      4 | Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur Gauge Conversion (357 km)      |                1122 |
|      5 | Mayiladuturai-Thiruvarur-Karaikkudi Gauge Conversion (187 km) |                1338 |
|      6 | Madurai-Bodiyakannur Gauge Conversion (90 km)                 |                 593 |
|      7 | Chengalpattu Villupuram Doubling (102 km)                     |                 670 |
|      8 | Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km)                         |                  83 |
|      9 | Chennai Central-Basin Bridge Doubling (2 km)                  |                  31 |
|     10 | Thanjavur-Ponmalai - Doubling (48 km)                         |                 370 |
|     11 | Villupuram-Dindigul Doubling (273 km)                         |                2000 |
|     12 | Chennai Beach-Korukkupet 3rd line (5 km)                      |                 168 |
|     13 | Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km)                      |                 293 |
|     14 | Omalur-Metturdam Patch Doubling (29 km)                       |                 327 |

|   15 | Chengalpattu-Villupuram and Tambaram- Chengalpattu - 3rd line (133 km)   |   1122 |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
|   16 | Salem-Magnesite Junction-Omalur Doubling (11 km)                         |    115 |
|   17 | Madurai- Maniyachi-Tuticorin Doubling (160 km)                           |   1891 |
|   18 | Maniyachi-Nagercoil Doubling (102 km)                                    |   1752 |
|   19 | Chennai Beach- Chennai Egmore Doubling (4 km)                            |    272 |

Details of some ongoing projects falling fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are as under :

|   S.N | Project                                        |   Cost (₹in Crores) |
|-------|------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|     1 | Tindivanam-Nagari New Line (184 Km)            |                3631 |
|     2 | Morappur-Dharmapuri New Line (36 Km)           |                 359 |
|     3 | Nagapattinam - Tiruturaipundi new line (43 Km) |                 742 |
|     4 | Karaikal -Peralam New line (23 Km)             |                 373 |
|     5 | Trivandrum- Kanyakumari- Doubling (87 Km)      |                3785 |
|     6 | 3rd & 4th line Arakkonam yard (6 Km)           |                  98 |

Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu   | 4315 Ha        |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Land Acquired                                    | 1038 Ha ( 24%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired                      | 3277 Ha ( 76%) |

Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

Details  of  some  major  projects  which  are  delayed  due  to  land acquisition are as under:-

|   S N | Name of the project                        |   Total land required (in Ha) |   Land acquired (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|-------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|     1 | Tindivanam-Tiruvannamalai New Line (71 km) |                           273 |                      33 |                                   240 |
|     2 | Attiputtu - Puttur New Line (88 km)        |                           189 |                       0 |                                   189 |
|     3 | Morappur - Dharmapuri (36 km)              |                            93 |                      42 |                                    51 |
|     4 | Mannargudi-Pattukkottai (41 km)            |                           196 |                       0 |                                   196 |
|     5 | Thanjavur-Pattukottai (52 km)              |                           152 |                       0 |                                   152 |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu.

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  etc.  All  these  factors  affect  the  completion  time  and cost of the project/s.

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