Lok Sabha Question No. 137 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Reduced Fund Allocation for New Railway Lines in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.137

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2024

## REDUCED FUND ALLOCATION FOR NEW RAILWAY LINES IN TAMIL NADU

*137. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has slashed fund allocation for new railway lines in Tamil Nadu for the financial year 2024-25 by 70% compared to the amount announced in Interim Budget for the same year;
- (b) if so, the reasons for this drastic reduction in funds, despite the vital need for expanded railway infrastructure in the said State to support its growing population and economy;
- (c) the  manner  in  which  the  Government  intends  to  make  up  for  this shortfall  in  funding  and  the  impact  this  will  have  on  the  completion and  progress  of  ongoing  and  proposed  railway  projects  in  the  said State;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  this  cut  in  funding  could negatively  affect  regional  development,  job  creation,  and  overall connectivity  of  Tamil  Nadu  with  rest  of  the  country  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to reconsider this cut and restore funds, especially in light of the importance of the said State as major economic and industrial hub in country and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 137 BY DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 04.12.2024 REGARDING REDUCED FUND ALLOCATION FOR NEW RAILWAY LINES IN TAMIL NADU

(a)  to  (e):    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.

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are covered under Southern Railway (SR), South Central Railway (SCR) and South Western Railway (SWR) zones of Indian Railways. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

As on 01.04.2024, 22 Railways projects (10 New Line, 03 Gauge Conversion and  09  Doubling)  of  total  length  2,587  Km,  costing 33,467  crore,  falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 665 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure   of   7,153 crore  has   been   incurred  upto  March' 2024.   The

## summary is as under:-

| Plan Head               |   No. of projec ts |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commission ed (in Km) |   Expenditure upto March 2024 ( in Cr.) |
|-------------------------|--------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| New Line                |                 10 |                    872 |                             24 |                                    1223 |
| Gauge Conversion        |                  3 |                    748 |                            604 |                                    3267 |
| Doubling /Multitracking |                  9 |                    967 |                             37 |                                    2664 |
| Total                   |                 22 |                   2587 |                            665 |                                    7153 |

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                  |
| 2024-25  | 6,362 crore (more than 7 times) |

The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu during 2009-14 and 2014-24 is as under:

| Period   | Total Track Commissioned   |
|----------|----------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 923 Km                     |
| 2014-24  | 1,302 Km                   |

Though  fund  allocation  has  increased  manifold  but  pace  of  execution  of project is dependent on expeditious land acquisition. Railway acquires the land through State Government and the completion of a railway projects is dependent of land acquisition. However, Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are held ...3/-

## up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu   | 3389 Ha       |
|--------------------------------------------------|---------------|
| Land Acquired                                    | 866 Ha (26%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                      | 2523 Ha (74%) |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however  success depends  upon  the  support  of  Government  of  Tamil  Nadu.    For  instance, details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:-

|   SN | 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 |                       0 |                                    93 |
|    4 | Mannargudi - Pattukkottai (41 Km)           |                           152 |                       0 |                                   152 |
|    5 | Thanjavur - Pattukottai (52 Km)             |                           196 |                       0 |                                   196 |

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 climate conditions etc.

Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  setting  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  (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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