Lok Sabha Question No. 259 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: Construction of Identified Railway Lines
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 259 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2024

## CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTIFIED RAILWAY LINES

- 259     DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the railway lines for the energy, mineral, and cement corridors, port  connectivity  corridors,  and  high-traffic  density  corridors  have  been identified;
- (b) if so, the status of construction of such identified lines;
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d)  whether  any  of  the  identified  lines,  especially  the  port  connectivity corridor lines, pass through Kerala?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ANSWER ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 259 BY DR. SHASHI THAROOR TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 27.11.2024 REGARDING CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTIFIED RAILWAY LINES

(a) to (d): Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway-wise  and  not    State/area-wise/district-wise  as  the  projects  may span across State boundaries. Furthermore, Railway infrastructure projects are  taken  up  on  the  basis  of  remunerativeness,  last  mile  connectivity, operational requirements, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.

For  seamless  movement  of  people,  goods  and  services  and  enhanced logistics  efficiency,  presently,  624  no.  of  surveys  (New  Lines,  Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling)  having  a  total  length  of  about  49,520  km including  the  projects  situated  in  energy,  mineral  and  cement  corridors; high traffic density corridors & port connectivity corridors have been taken up on Indian Railways under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) by  providing  connectivity  to  industrial  clusters,  agricultural  zones,  ports, mines, power plants, remote areas, tourist and cultural places, etc.

As on 01.04.2024, 488 projects (187 New Lines, 40 Gauge Conversion and 261 Doubling) of total length 44,488 km, costing approx. ₹7.44 lakh crore are  in  various  stages  of  planning/approval/construction,  out  of  which, 12,045 km length has been commissioned and the expenditure of approx. ₹2.92 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

Zone-wise  and  year-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  including  cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on the Indian Railways website.

The average annual budget allocation for New Lines, Gauge Conversion and Doubling projects on Indian Railways is given below:

| Period   | Average Outlay     | Increase w.r.t. Average Allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|--------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹11,527 crore/year | -                                               |
| 2024-25  | ₹68,634 crore      | Nearly 6 times                                  |

The  details  of  commissioning  of  New  Lines,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling projects across Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | Increase w.r.t. Average Commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 km                    | 4.2 km/day                    | -                                                      |
| 2014-24  | 31,180 km                   | 8.54 km/day                   | More than 2 times                                      |

## KERALA

As on 01.04.2024, 08 projects (02 New Lines and 06 Doubling projects) of 419  km  length,  costing  ₹12,350  crore  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Kerala are in planning/approval/construction stages and the expenditure of ₹3,046 crore has been incurred upto March 2024.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in the fund allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects in the State of Kerala as under:-

| Period   | Average Outlay   | Increase w.r.t. Average Allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹372 crore/year  | -                                               |
| 2024-25  | ₹3,011 crore     | Around 8 times                                  |

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Kerala is held up due to delay in land acquisition as only about 64 ha land has been acquired out of total requirement of about 475 ha.

Railway has already paid ₹2,112 crore to the Government of Kerala for land acquisition. Support of the Government of Kerala is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

Completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land  acquisition  by  State  Governments,  forest  clearance  by  officials  of forest department, deposition of the cost share by the 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. and all these factors affect the completion time and cost of project(s).

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