Lok Sabha Question No. 4507 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-20
Subject: Parasnath-Giridih-Madhuban Railway Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Chandra Prakash Choudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4507

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025

## PARASNATH-GIRIDIH-MADHUBAN RAILWAY LINE

4507.   SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  the  present  status  of  the  proposed  new  railway  line from Parasnath to Madhuban via Giridih;
- (b)  whether  land  acquisition  and  forest  clearance  for  the  said  project have been completed and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the estimated cost and timeline for completion of the project;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  religious  significance  of the area and the long-standing demand of the Jain community and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government proposes to double the existing railway line between  Koderma,  Giridih  and  Madhupur  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (f)  the details of the status of electrification and signaling upgrades on this route;
- (g) the details of the average train frequency along with any new express or MEMU services being planned for this line; and
- (h)  whether  any  feasibility  study  or  survey  has  been  conducted  for doubling and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (h): Parasnath-Giridih-Madhuban New Line Project was sanctioned in  2018-19   on   50:50  cost - sharing   basis   with   the   Government   of

Contd…2/-

Jharkhand, at an estimated cost of ₹903 crore. The Railways requested the State Government in November 2022 to deposit its share of the cost. However, the Government of Jharkhand is yet to deposit its share. As a result, the project could not be taken up.

The proposed alignment of the Parasnath-Madhuban-Giridih section falls within Giridih district of Jharkhand. Madhuban is situated at the foothills of Parasnath Hill, which in Jainism is referred to as Shri Sammed Shikhar Teerth, one of the most prominent Jain pilgrimage centres in the country.

Both Parasnath and Giridih are well connected with railway network. To improve  rail  connectivity  of  Parasnath,  3rd  and  4th  line  work  between Sonnagar-Gaya-Parasnath-Andal  (375x2  Km)  has  been  taken  up.  More than  95%  land  of  Sonnagar-Andal  multitracking  (375x2  Km)  project  has been acquired.  Execution of the project has been taken up on available land.

Line  capacity  of  the  Koderma-Giridih-Madhupur  section  is  sufficient  to handle the present traffic requirement.

Koderma-New  Giridih-Madhupur  sector  is  presently  being  served  by  03 pairs of train services viz. 14049/14050 Godda-Delhi Express, 13515/13514 Asansol-Hatia  Express,  53369/53370  Madhupur-Koderma  Passenger  to cater to the needs of passengers. Besides, introduction of new trains of train services is an on-going process on Indian railways, subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources, etc.

Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand  are  covered  under  East  Central  Railway  (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER) and South Eastern Railway (SER) Zones of Indian Railways. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain.

## Jharkhand

Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Jharkhand is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                       |
|----------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹457 Cr./Yr                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹7306 Cr. (approx. 16 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  26  projects  (9  New  Lines  and  17  Doubling),  of  total length of 2363 Km, costing ₹47,729 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand  including  those  which  are  in  planning/approval/construction stage,  out  of  which,  598  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure  of  ₹15,845  crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March,  2025.  The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. projects |   of Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissione d till March, 2025(in Km) |   Total Exp. upto March, 2025 (Rs. in Cr.) |
|--------------------------|----------------|---------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |              9 |                       749 |                                            156 |                                       4239 |
| Doubling/Multi- tracking |             17 |                      1614 |                                            442 |                                      11606 |
| Total                    |             26 |                      2363 |                                            598 |                                      15845 |

The details of commissioning/ laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand is as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 287 Km                   | 57.4 Km                               |
| 2014-25  | 1316 Km                  | 119.64 Km (More than 2 times)         |

During  last  three  years  (i.e.  2022-2023,  2023-24,  2024-2025  and  current Financial  Year  i.e.  2025-26),  total  83  Nos.  of  Surveys  (17  New  Line,  66 Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Jharkhand  having  a  total length of 3274 Km have been sanctioned.

Sanction  of  any  railway  project  depend  upon  many  parameters/factors which include the following:

-  Anticipated traffic projections and Remunerativeness of the proposed route
-  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project
-  Connection of missing links and providing additional route
-  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
-  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,
-  Railway's own operational requirements
-  Socio-economic considerations
-  Overall availability of funds

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:

-  Land acquisition by State Government
-  Forest clearance
-  Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
-  Law and order situation in the area of project 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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