Lok Sabha Question No. 249 (STARRED), answered on 2025-08-06
Subject: Railway Projects in Gujarat
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Parshottambhai Rupala

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 249 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2025

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN GUJARAT

- *249. SHRI PARSHOTTAMBHAI RUPALA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the ongoing/pending/proposed railway projects in Gujarat;
- (b) the  details  of  the  steps  taken  not  to  disturb  the  residential areas and greenery and ensure that environmental sustainability of Gujarat will not be affected by these projects;
- (c) the  details  of  the  progress  of  Metro  Rail  Project  in  Gujarat along with its future plans;
- (d) whether there is any plan to launch Metro Rail at Rajkot and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  set  elevated  railway lines for goods traffic and avoid acquisition of farm lands and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 249 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2025

(a) to (e): Railway  projects  are  surveyed/  sanctioned/executed  Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise/UT wise/District wise as the Railway projects may span across State/UT/District 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, socioeconomic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

Railway  infrastructure  projects,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Gujarat,  are  covered  by  Western  Railway  and  North  Western  Railway zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railway's website.

As on 01.04.2025, 36 projects (6 New Lines, 17 Gauge Conversion and 13  Doubling),  of  a  total  length  of  2564  Km,  costing  ₹30,275  crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, are sanctioned, out of which 863 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹12,865 crore has been incurred upto March 2025. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. of sanctioned projects |   Total length (Km) |   Length commissioned till Mar'25 (Km) |   Total Expenditure upto Mar'25 (Cr.) |
|--------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                            6 |                 532 |                                    105 |                                  5494 |
| Gauge Conversion         |                           17 |                1379 |                                    718 |                                  6213 |
| Doubling / Multitracking |                           13 |                 653 |                                     40 |                                  1158 |
| TOTAL                    |                           36 |                2564 |                                    863 |                                 12865 |

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

| Period   | Outlay                             |
|----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹589 crore/year                    |
| 2025-26  | ₹17,155 crore (More than 29 times) |

The details of commissioning / laying of  new track, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat during 2009-14 and 2014-25, is as under :-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 660 Km                   | 132 Km/year                           |
| 2014-25  | 2764 Km                  | 251 Km/yr (Nearly 2 times)            |

Details of some of the recently completed projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, are as under:

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                                  |   Latest Cost (Cr.) |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Bhildi-Viramgam Gauge Conversion (156 Km)                        |                 312 |
|       2 | Dabhoi-Chandod with ext. up to Kevadiya Gauge Conversion (50 Km) |                1018 |
|       3 | Ahmedabad-Botad Gauge Conversion (170 Km)                        |                1810 |
|       4 | Dhasa-Jetalsar Gauge Conversion (104 Km)                         |                1024 |
|       5 | Ahmedabad-Mahesana Gauge Conversion (69 Km)                      |                 874 |
|       6 | Katosan Road-Chanasma Gauge Conversion (38 Km)                   |                 484 |
|       7 | Kalol-Kadi-Katosan Gauge Conversion (37 Km)                      |                 347 |
|       8 | Viramgram-Surendranagar Doubling (65 Km)                         |                 382 |
|       9 | Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km)                                  |                2448 |
|      10 | Guriya-Marwar & Karjoda-Palanpur Doubling (49 Km)                |                 251 |
|      11 | Abu Road to Sarotra Road Doubling (24 Km)                        |                 152 |
|      12 | Sarotra Road - Karjoda Doubling (24 Km)                          |                 220 |
|      13 | Viramgam-Samakhiali Doubling (182 Km)                            |                1492 |
|      14 | Palanpur-Samakhiali Doubling (247 Km)                            |                2538 |
|      15 | Mahesana-Palanpur Doubling (65 Km)                               |                 537 |
|      16 | Surendranagar-Rajkot Doubling (116 Km)                           |                1425 |
|      17 | Anand-Godhara Doubling (79 Km)                                   |                 692 |
|      18 | Vatva-Ahmedabad 3rd line with Automatic Signalling (8 km)        |                  61 |

Contd…3

Some of the main projects,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Gujarat, which have been taken up, are as under:

|   S. No. | Project                                                                     |   Cost (Cr.) |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
|        1 | Naliya-Jakhau Port New Line (25 Km)                                         |          410 |
|        2 | Miyagam-Karjan-Choranda-Malsar Gauge Conversion (37 Km)                     |          450 |
|        3 | Jambusar-Kavi Gauge Conversion (26 Km)                                      |          318 |
|        4 | Kosamba-Umarpada Gauge Conversion (70 Km)                                   |          468 |
|        5 | Khijadiya-Amreli Gauge Conversion (17 Km)                                   |          178 |
|        6 | Gandhidham(GIM)- Adipur(AI) Quadrupling (11 Km)                             |          152 |
|        7 | Barejadi-Nandej (Geratpur)- Sanand 4th Line (38 Km)                         |          962 |
|        8 | Samakhiali and Gandhidham Quadrupling (53 Km)                               |         1430 |
|        9 | Vishvamitri-Dabhoi including 'Y' connection at Vishvamitri Doubling (33 Km) |          394 |
|       10 | Luni-Samdari-Bhildi Doubling (272 Km)                                       |         3086 |
|       11 | Sabarmati D Cabin- Sarkhej Doubling (21 Km)                                 |          323 |

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) also passes through Gujarat. About  565  route  Km  of  Western  DFC  is  situated  in  Gujarat,  which  is about 37% of overall route length of Western DFC. Full project length falling in the State of Gujarat has been commissioned.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project (508 Km) is under execution with technical and financial assistance from Government of Japan. Construction works on the flagship high speed bullet  train  project  have  gathered  momentum  in  Gujarat.  Now,  100% land  acquisition  has  been  completed.  Construction  of  viaduct  for  352 Km (Foundation & Pier)  section  of  this  project  falling  in  the  State  of Gujarat has been completed. Also, 329 Km Girder Casting and 309 Km Girder Launching have been completed.

During  last  3  years  (2022-23,  2023-24,  2024-25)  and  current  FY,  58 surveys of a total length of 6,321 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, have been sanctioned. Some important surveys are as under:

|   SN | Name of project                  |   Length (Km) |
|------|----------------------------------|---------------|
|    1 | Ratlam - Vadodara 3rd & 4th Line |           259 |
|    2 | Viramgam-Kanalus Quadrupling     |           293 |
|    3 | Kanalus-Okha doubling            |           141 |

After firming up of Detailed Project Report (DPR), 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 sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed.

The launch of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) has brought transformative  approach  in  planning  and  execution  of  infrastructural transportation projects. The NMP, spanning across the entire country has  brought  in  synergy  between  the  infrastructure  sectors  such  as railways, shipping, roadways, telecommunications, pipelines, etc. through collaboration amongst concerned Ministries/State Governments/Departments,  thereby  bringing  in  vast  improvement  in transportation efficiency, supply chain management, enhancing connectivity  affecting  local  economies,  speeding  up  the  clearances needed for the project completion as well as planning at a faster pace.

Rail transport is inherently more environment friendly due to its lower carbon footprint, energy efficiency and reduced congestion as compared to roads. Not only does rail transport cost less than half of road transport, its carbon dioxide emissions are 90 percent less than road  transport.  Shifting  traffic  from  road  to  rail  is  helping  India decarbonize its economy at scale. As compared to 2014 level, 26,782 MT more  freight  has  been shifted from road to rail which has resulted Contd...5

in saving 143.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This itself is equivalent to more than 100 crore trees.

So far, about 99% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under:

| Period                       | Route Kilometer   |
|------------------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014 (about 60 years) | 21,801            |
| 2014-25                      | 46,900            |

In  Gujarat,  entire  existing  Broad  Gauge  railway  network  has  been electrified.  All  new  line/multitracking  projects  are  being  sanctioned and constructed with electrification.

Urban  Transport,  an  integral  part  of  Urban  Development,  is  a  State subject.  Respective  State  Governments/Union  Territories  (UTs)  are responsible for initiating and developing urban transport infrastructure including Metro Rail Projects.  The details of the Metro Rail Projects in Gujarat are as under:

|   SN | Name of Project                       |   Project length (Km) | Operational length (Km)   | Cost (Cr.)   |
|------|---------------------------------------|-----------------------|---------------------------|--------------|
|    1 | Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase I  |                    40 | 40                        | 10,773       |
|    2 | Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase II |                    28 | 23                        | 5384         |
|    3 | Surat Metro Rail Project              |                    40 | -                         | 12,020       |

Government  of  Gujarat  has  conveyed  in  principle  approval  to  Rajkot Metro Rail Project for a length of 41 Km with total estimated cost of ₹10,427 crore to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Metro project being  cost  intensive  requires  extensive  appraisal  and  scrutiny  at different levels.

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

Contd...6

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.

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, 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  etc.  All  these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

*****