Lok Sabha Question No. 765 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-07
Subject: Railway Development Projects in Bihar
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dileshwar Kamait

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.765 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2024

## RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN BIHAR

- † 765.  SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  amount  of  funds  spent  for  railway  development  projects  in Bihar till date since 2019;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  development  works  undertaken  by  railways  in flood affected border areas of Bihar especially in Supaul Parliamentary  Constituency  since  2019  and  the  total  amount spent thereon;
- (c) the total amount of the budget allocated for Supaul railway station in Bihar during the year 2023;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  schemes  formulated  for  the  modernization  and beautification of Supaul station; and
- (e)    whether  the  Government  proposes  to  modernise  and  beautify  all the  railway  stations  of  Supaul  Parliamentary  Constituency  and  if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS 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 UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 765 BY SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT TO BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  07.02.2024    REGARDING  RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN BIHAR

( a)  and  (b):  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned  and  executed  Zonal Railway wise and not Division wise/District wise/State wise as Railway projects may span across Division/District/State boundaries.  However, as  on  01.04.2023,  54  projects  (32  New  Lines,  04  Gauge  Conversions and 18 Doubling), of  total  length  of  4,950  Km,  costing  ₹70,672  crore falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar including those falling fully/partly in Supaul Constituency are in planning / approval / construction stage, out of which, 1505 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹25,702 crore has been incurred upto March, 2023.

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

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects. Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:

| Year    | Budget Outlay   | Increase w.r.t. allocation of 2013-14   |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 2013-14 | ₹1,245 Cr.      | -                                       |
| 2023-24 | ₹8,505 Cr.      | More than 6 times                       |

Year-wise details of Budget Allocation made for Railway Infrastructure projects & safety works falling fully/partly in Bihar are as under:

| Period   | Budget Outlay   |
|----------|-----------------|
| 2019-20  | ₹ 4093Cr.       |
| 2020-21  | ₹ 4489 Cr.      |
| 2021-22  | ₹ 5150 Cr.      |
| 2022-23  | ₹ 6606 Cr.      |

Railways  make  all  out  efforts  for  optimum  use  of  allocated  fund.  An Allocation of ₹ 8505 Cr. has been made for Financial Year 2023-24 for Railway  Infrastructure  projects  &  safety  works  falling  fully/partly  in Bihar.

Average  annual  commissioning  for  Infrastructure  and  safety  works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:-

| Year    | Commissioning   | Increase w.r.t. average annual commissioning during 2009-14   |
|---------|-----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14 | 63.6 Km/year    | -                                                             |
| 2014-23 | 145.33 Km/year  | More than 2 times                                             |

(c)  to  (e)  :  Ministry  of  Railways  has  recently  launched  Amrit  Bharat Station scheme. This scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.

It  involves  preparation  of  Master  Plans  and  their  implementation  in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product', better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings,  landscaping  etc.  keeping  in  view  the  necessity  at  each station. The  scheme  also  envisages  improvement  of  building,  integrating  the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, 'Roof Plazas' as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation  of city centres at the station in the long term. So  far  1318  Railway  Stations,  including  Supaul  Railway  Station,  of Supaul Parliamentary constituency have been identified for development under this scheme over Indian Railways.

The details of allocation for development and maintenance of stations are maintained zonal Railway-wise and not state-wise or station-wise or  scheme-wise. Development of stations and provision of Passenger amenities  are  generally  funded  under  Plan  Head  -  53  'Customer Amenities'. Supaul Railway Station falls under the jurisdiction of East Central  Railway.  During  the year  2023-24,  a  total  ₹  594.15  crore  has been allocated for East Central Railway.

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