Lok Sabha Question No. 4355 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: New Rail Projects in Jharkhand and West Bengal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4355 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

## NEW RAIL PROJECTS IN JHARKHAND AND WEST BENGAL

4355. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  number  of  new  rail  routes  constructed  in  the  country  since 2014,  including  the  regions  covered  and  the  purpose  of  their construction;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  has  any  plans  to  further  expand  the railway  network  in  underserved  regions  to  enhance  connectivity and  improve  economic  opportunities  particularly  in  the  States  of Jharkhand and West Bengal; and
- (c)  if  so,  whether  the  Government  is  considering  the  formation  of  a new rail route from Jhargram (Jharkhand) to Purulia (West Bengal), passing  through  towns  like  Chandil,  Nimdi,  Bodam,  Katin,  and Bandhwaan to boost regional connectivity and development, if so, the details of the status of the proposal?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (c)  :    Railway  projects  are  surveyed/sanctioned/executed  Zonal the Railways'  projects  may  span  across  State  boundaries.  Railway  projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last

Railway wise and not State-wise/District/Constituency wise as mile  connectivity, missing  links  and   alternate routes, augmentation of Contd…2/-

congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway's own operational requirement, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

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 Project s | Total Length NL/GC/DL (km)   | Length Commissio ned till Mar'24 (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                         |

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.

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)      |

## Jharkhand:

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.

As on 01.04.2024, 32 projects (11 New Lines, 01 Gauge Conversions and 20  Doubling),  of  total  length  of  3070  Km,  costing  ₹52,885  crore  falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Jharkhand  including  those  which  are  in planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of  which,  744  km  length  has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹15,986  crore  has  been incurred upto March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. projects |   of Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissione d till March, 2024(in Km) |   Total Exp. upto March, 2024 (Rs. in Cr.) |
|--------------------------|----------------|---------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |             11 |                      1069 |                                            156 |                                       3549 |
| Gauge Conversion         |              1 |                       159 |                                             90 |                                        184 |
| Doubling/Multi -tracking |             20 |                      1842 |                                            497 |                                      12254 |
| Total                    |             32 |                      3070 |                                            744 |                                      15986 |

## The details of  outlay  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) |

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                               |
| 2023-24  | 124 Km                   | 124 Km (More than 2 times)            |

During  last  three  years  (i.e.  2021-2022,  2022-2023,  2023-24  and  current Financial  Year  i.e.  2024-25),  total  84  Nos.  of  Surveys  (18  New  Line,  66 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand having a total length of 3386 Km have been sanctioned.

## West Bengal:

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the West Bengal are covered  under  Eastern  Railway,  South  Eastern  Railway  and  Northeast Frontier Railway 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, 43 projects (13 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 26 Doubling), of  total  length  of  4479 Km,  costing ₹60,168 crore  falling

fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  including  those  which  are  in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 1655 km length has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹20,434  crore  has  been incurred upto March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned till March, 2024 (in Km) |   Total Exp. upto March, 2024 (Rs. in Cr.) |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                13 |                   1087 |                                            322 |                                       9774 |
| Gauge Conversion         |                 4 |                   1201 |                                            854 |                                       3663 |
| Doubling/Multi- tracking |                26 |                   2192 |                                            479 |                                       6997 |
| Total                    |                43 |                   4479 |                                           1655 |                                      20434 |

The details of outlay for infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                             |
|----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs. 4,380 Cr./year                 |
| 2025-26  | Rs. 13,955 Cr. (More than 3 times) |

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of West Bengal is held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in West Bengal is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in   | 4093 Ha         |
|---------------------------------------|-----------------|
| West Bengal                           |                 |
| Land Acquired                         | 1086 Ha (26.5%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired           | 3007 Ha (73.5%) |

Details of  some  major  projects  which  are  delayed  due  to  land acquisition are as under:-

|   S N | Name of the project                        |   Total land required (in Ha) |   Land acquire d (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|-------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|     1 | Nabadwipghat-Nabadwipdham New Line (10 Km) |                        106.71 |                     0    |                                106.71 |
|     2 | Byepass at Sainthia (5 Km)                 |                         22.28 |                     0    |                                 22.28 |
|     3 | Deshpran-Nandigram (17 Km) New Linne       |                         78.51 |                    65.96 |                                 12.55 |

Further,  works  on  these  projects  could  not  be  taken  forward  due  to protest by local people against land acquisition and non-cooperation of concerned authorities of the State Government of West Bengal.

Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of West Bengal.

During  last  three  years  (i.e.  2021-2022,  2022-2023,  2023-24  and  current Financial  Year  i.e.  2024-25),  total  95  Nos.  of  Surveys  (10  New  Line,  85 Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  having  a  total length of 4222 Km have been sanctioned.

Survey  for  new  line  between  Jhargram  and  Purulia  (125  Km)  has  been sanctioned. Survey work has been taken up.

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