Lok Sabha Question No. 1063 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-26
Subject: Railway Projects in Odisha
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Basanta Kumar Panda

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1063 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2023

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ODISHA

- † 1063.  SHRI BASANTA KUMAR PANDA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the details of all the railway projects and works including laying of railway  lines  introduction  of  new  trains,  resuming  suspended trains, setting railway workshops,  station  beautification,  etc. carried  out  in  the  districts  of  Kalahandi  and  Nuapada  of  Odisha during the last four years and the current year;
- (b)  the details of the expenditure made on all the above said works, project-wise;
- (c)  whether  any  new  railway  projects  are  being  proposed  by  the Railways in the districts of Western Odisha in the near future; and
- (d)   if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND 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. 1063 BY SHRI BASANTA KUMAR PANDA TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  26.07.2023  REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ODISHA

(a)  to  (d):    The  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned/executed  Zonal Railway  wise  and  not  State  /District  wise  as  the  Railways'  projects may span across State/District boundaries.

As on 01.04.2023, 35 Projects (12 New Lines, 1 Gauge Conversion and 22  Doubling)  of  total  length  4,257  Km,  costing ₹ 52,189  crore,  falling fully/partly in Odisha are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 1184 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 20,141 crore has been incurred upto  March, 2023.

Out of  these,  nine  (09)  projects  (3  New  Line  &  6  Doubling  Works)  of total length of 99 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha including those in western Odisha have been sanctioned in last four years (201920 to 2022-23) and current year (2023-24).

As on 01.04.2023, 64 nos. of survey works (26 New Line & 38 Doubling) have been taken up having total length 3414 km, falling fully/partly in the state of Odisha including Kalahandi District, Nuapada District and Western  Odisha.    Demands  of  Railway  Projects  are  raised  by  State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives and Railways' own requirements. They are taken up on the  basis  of  remunerativeness,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing  links and  alternate routes, augmentation  of  congested/saturated  lines, socio-economic considerations etc.

Indian  Railways  (IR)  do  not  run  train  services  on  State/District  wise basis  as  Railway  network  straddles  across  State/District  boundaries. However,  train  services,  serving  Kalahandi  and  Naupada  districts which  were  discontinued  during  Covid-19,  have  now  been  resumed. Further,  introduction  of  train  services  over  Indian  Railways  is  an ongoing process subject to operational feasibility, commercial viability and availability of resources, etc.

The  work  of setting up of Electric Loco  periodical overhauling workshop at Kalahandi was sanctioned in 2017-18 under Plan Head-42. Presently,  the  land  acquisition  from  the  State  government  is  under process for the project.

Modernization/beautification of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous  and  on-going process  and  works  in this regard are undertaken  depending  upon  need,  volume  of  passenger  traffic  and inter-se priority, subject to availability of funds and priority is accorded to  higher  category  of  stations  over  lower  category  of  stations  while sanctioning and executing the works.

Recently,  the  Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  has  been  launched  for development of Railway stations on Indian Railways. 3 nos. of Railway stations  viz.  Bhawanipatna,  Kesinga  &  Khariar  Road  in  Kalahandi  & Nuapada districts of Odisha have been identified for upgradation under

this  scheme.  This  scheme  envisages  development  of  stations  on  a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of Master  Plans  and  their  implementation  in  phases  to  improve  the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating  areas,  waiting  halls,  toilets,  lift/escalators  as  necessary, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One  Station  One  Product',  better  passenger  information  systems, executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each such station.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating  the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballast less tracks, 'Roof Plazas' as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

Railway  Projects  in  Odisha  are  covered  under  East  Coast  Railway, South Eastern Railway and South East Central Railway zones of Indian Railway.    Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway  projects  including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian  Railways  website  i.e.  www.indianrailways.gov.in  >  Ministry  of Railways > Railway  Board  > About  Indian  Railways  > Railway Board Directorates >Finance (Budget) >Rail Budget/Pink Book (Year)> Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in fund allocation and commensurate  commissioning  of  Projects.  Average  Annual  Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects & safety works, falling fully/partly in State of Odisha, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ₹ 4,126 crore per  year,  which  is  392%  more  than  the  Average  Annual  Budget allocation of ₹ 838 crore per year during 2009-14.  The allocation has been increased to ₹ 4,568 crore in Financial Year 2019-20 (445% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 5,296 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (532% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 6,471 crore for Financial Year 2021-22 (672% more  than  the  Average  Annual  Budget  allocation  of  2009-14)  and ₹ 9,734 crore  for Financial Year 2022-23 (which is 1062% more than the Average Annual Budget outlay of 2009-14). For FY 2023-24, highest ever  budget  outlay  of ₹ 10,012  crore  has  been  provided  for  these works, which is 1095% more than average annual budget allocation of 2009-14 ( ₹ 838 Crore/Year).

During  2014-23,  1583  km  sections  (384  Km  New  Line  and  1199  Km Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha have been commissioned  at  an  average  rate  of  175.89  Km  per  year,  which  is 229% more than commissioning during 2009-14 (53.4 Km/year).

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