Lok Sabha Question No. 5144 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Railway Expansion projects in Remote/Tribal Areas of Maharashtra
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5144 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025

## RAILWAY EXPANSION IN REMOTE/TRIBAL AREAS OF MAHARASHTRA

†5144.   SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM: DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the progress made in the railway line expansion projects in remote and tribal dominating areas in Maharashtra;
- (b) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  start  subsidized  rail  services  to the said areas if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  steps  taken  to  improve  access  for  rural  and  tribal  people  in Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise  and  not  State-wise/District  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, economic  considerations  etc.  depending  upon  throwforward  of  ongoing other public representatives, Railway's own operational requirement, socioprojects and overall availability of funds.

As on 01.04.2024, 41 Railway projects (16 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 23 Doubling), of total length of 5,877 Km, costing ₹81,580 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra, which include expansion of projects in  remote  and  tribal  areas  also,  are  at  various  stages  of  planning  and implementation, out of which 1,926 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹31,236 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

## The status of work is summarized as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Expenditure upto March, 2024 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| New Lines               |                16 | 2,017                  | 166                           | 8,529                                     |
| Gauge Conversion        |                 2 | 609                    | 312                           | 3,332                                     |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                23 | 3,251                  | 1,448                         | 19,376                                    |
| Total                   |                41 | 5,877                  | 1,926                         | 31,236                                    |

## Following major projects falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra have been sanctioned recently:-

|   S.No. | Name of the Project                            | Cost (₹ in Cr.)   |
|---------|------------------------------------------------|-------------------|
|       1 | Manmad-Indore New Line (309 Km)                | 16,321            |
|       2 | Jalna - Jalgaon New Line (174 Km)              | 5,804             |
|       3 | Aurangabad - Ankai doubling (98 Km)            | 961               |
|       4 | Parbhani - Parli - Vaijanath doubling (65 Km)  | 770               |
|       5 | Jalgaon - Manmad 4 th Line (160 Km)            | 2,574             |
|       6 | Bhusawal - Khandwa 3 rd and 4 th Line (131 Km) | 3,285             |

Contd….3/-

Average Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and other works, falling fully/ partly in Maharashtra is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                               |
|----------|--------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 1,171 crore/year                   |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 23,778 crore ( more than 20 times) |

Commissioning  of  sections  (New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra during 2009-14 and 2014-2024 is as under:-

| Period   | New track    | Average commissioning of new    |
|----------|--------------|---------------------------------|
|          | Commissioned | tracks                          |
| 2009-14  | 292 Km       | 58.4 Km/year                    |
| 2014-24  | 1,830 Km     | 183 Km/year (more than 3 times) |

Further,  Construction  works  on  the  flagship  High  speed  bullet  train  project have  gathered  momentum  in  Maharashtra.  Now  100%  land  acquisition  has been completed. Works of bridges, aqueducts etc. have been taken up. Orders for  3  TBMs  to  carry  out  about  21  Km  tunneling  under  sea  have  also  been placed.  Meanwhile,  all  preparatory  works  required  for  the  working  of  TBMs such as construction of shafts etc. have also been taken up.

Western  DFC  also  passes  through  Maharashtra.  About  178  route  Km  of western DFC is situated in Maharashtra which is about 12% of overall route length  of  western  DFC.  76  Km  of  this  project  from  New  Gholvad  to  New Vaitarna in Maharashtra has already been commissioned. Balance works have been  taken  up.  Connectivity  of  WDFC  to  JNPT  will  boost  the  capacity  to handle cargo and container traffic from port to Delhi NCR.

During the last three years and current year (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and current Financial Year i.e. 2024-25), 95  No. Surveys (28 New line, 02  Gauge Conversion  and  65  Doubling/multi  tracking)  of  total  length  8,366  km  falling fully/partly in the state of Maharashtra have been sanctioned.

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 climatic conditions etc.

Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up 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, and (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.

Indian  Railways  strives  to  provide  affordable  services  to  all  strata  of  the society and gave subsidy of ₹56,993 cr. on passenger tickets in 2022-23. This amounts to concession of 46% on an average, to every person, travelling on Railways.  In  other  words,  if  the  cost  of  providing  service  is  ₹100,  then  the price  of  ticket  is  ₹54  only.  This  subsidy  is  continuing  for  all  passengers irrespective of the State/Region.

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