Lok Sabha Question No. 3796 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-18
Subject: Delay in Doubling work from Birur to Shivamogga Railway Station, Karnataka
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri B Y Raghavendra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3796 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024

## DELAY IN DOUBLING WORK FROM BIRUR TO SHIVAMOGGA RAILWAY STATION, KARNATAKA

## 3796.  SHRI B Y RAGHAVENDRA:

Will the Minister of  RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) the reasons  for the delay in doubling work  from  Birur to Shivamogga Railway Station in Karnataka;
- (b) the projected timeline and budgetary requirements for undertaking the doubling of the said railway line; and
- (c) the details of the measures planned to prioritize the said project to  enhance  connectivity  and  support  economic  growth  in  the region?

## 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  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 including trade and  tourism etc.  depending  upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

Railway  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Karnataka  are  covered  by  South  Western  Railway  (SWR),  Central Railway (CR), Southern Railway (SR) and South Central Railway (SCR) 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, 31 projects (21 new lines, and 10 Doubling) of total length  of  3,840  Km,  costing  ₹47,016  crore,  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Karnataka, are at various stages of planning and implementation. Out of these 1,302 Km length has been commissioned and  an  expenditure  of  ₹17,383  crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) |   Expenditure upto March 2024 (₹ in Cr.) |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| New Line                |                21 |                   2556 |                           395 |                                     7592 |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                10 |                   1284 |                           907 |                                     9791 |
| Total                   |                31 |                   3840 |                          1302 |                                    17383 |

Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in Karnataka is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                            |
|----------|-----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹835 crore/year                   |
| 2024-25  | ₹7,559 crore ( more than 9 times) |

Final  Location  Survey  (FLS)  for  doubling  between  Birur  -  Shivamoga (63  KM)  was  completed  in  2016  but  the  project  could  not  be  taken forward due to low traffic projections.  However, a fresh Final Location Survey (FLS) has been sanctioned in June, 2024 to assess the latest cost and traffic projections.

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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