Lok Sabha Question No. 2259 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-12
Subject: Angamaly Sabarimala Railway Project
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Benny Behanan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2259

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2025

## ANGAMALY SABARIMALA RAILWAY PROJECT

2259. SHRI BENNY BEHANAN: ADV. DEAN KURIAKOSE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state::

- (a) whether the Government has formulated any policy for the construction  of new  railway  lines in areas  that lack railway connectivity and if so, the primary guidelines and mechanisms for identifying and prioritising such areas;
- (b) whether the Government is aware of the delays in the implementation  of the Angamaly-  Sabarimala  (Sabari) Railway Project;
- (c) if  so,  the  reasons  therefor  along  with  the  current  status  of  the project in terms of land acquisition, construction progress and fund allocation;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  expedite  the completion of the Sabari Railway Project;
- (e) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  expected  timeline  for  its completion;
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  allocated  sufficient  funds  for  timely completion of the Sabari Railway Project; and
- (g) if so, the details thereof along with the funds allocated and utilized during the last five years and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (g):

Railway  projects  are surveyed/ sanctioned/ executed  Zonal ..P/2

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, socio-economic considerations, regional connectivity gaps etc.  depending  upon  throwforward  of  ongoing  projects  and  overall availability  of  funds.  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  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 | 20,199                          | 2,855                                     | 1,60,022                           |
| Gauge Conversion         |               40 | 4,719                           | 2,972                                     | 18,706                             |
| Doubling / Multitracking |              261 | 19,570                          | 6,218                                     | 1,13,742                           |
| Total                    |              488 | 44,488                          | 12,045                                    | 2,92,470                           |

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)       |

Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway  projects including cost, expenditure  and  outlay  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian Railway's website.

Angamali-Sabarimala  via  Erumeli  new  line  project  was  sanctioned  in 1997-98. Work on Angamali-Kaladi (7 Km) and long lead works on KaladiPerumbavoor  (10  Km)  was  taken  up.  However,  further  works  on  this project  could  not  be  taken  forward  due  to  protests  by  local  people against land acquisition and fixing of alignment of the line, court cases filed against the project and inadequate support from the State Government of Kerala.

The estimated cost of the project has been updated by M/s Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL) at ₹3801 crore and submitted to Government  of  Kerala  in  December,  2023  for  the  acceptance  of  the Estimate and willingness to share cost of the project. The Government of Kerala has communicated their willingness to share the cost of project with certain conditions in August, 2024. Government of Kerala has been requested by Railways to submit unconditional consent for sharing the cost. The  Government  of  Kerala  has  also been requested to enter into

tripartite MoU among State Government of Kerala, Ministry of Railways and  RBI  for  the  project.  An  outlay  of  ₹55  crore  has  been  provided  for Financial Year 2024-25.

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

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹372 crore/year                  |
| 2024-25  | ₹3,011 crore (more than 8 times) |

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 project is dependent  of  land acquisition. However,  execution  of important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Kerala  are  held  up  due  to  delay  in  land  acquisition.  Status  of  land acquisition in the State of Kerala is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Kerala   | 476 Ha       |
|----------------------------------------------|--------------|
| Land Acquired                                | 66 Ha (13%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                  | 410 Ha (87%) |

Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends  upon  the  support  of  Government  of  Kerala.  Railways  has deposited  ₹2111.83  crore  for  land  acquisition  for  ongoing  projects  to Government of Kerala.

Support  of  the  Government  of  Kerala  is  needed  to  expedite  the  land acquisition.

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.

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