Lok Sabha Question No. 446 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-24
Subject: Pending Railway Projects in Bihar
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Arun Bharti

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 446 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2024

## PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR

446. SHRI ARUN BHARTI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- a) the present status of various ongoing/pending railway projects in Bihar;
- b) the steps taken by the Railways to complete the said projects in a time bound manner;
- c) the number of railway projects in Bihar and Jamui Parliamentary constituency for which survey has been conducted and approved and for which work is not underway as yet;
- d) if so, the details thereof; and
- e) the efforts made by the Government to speed up the work?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  446  BY  SHRI  ARUN  BHARTI  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  24.07.2024  REGARDING  PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR

(a)  to  (e):  The  Railway  projects  are  surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise/Constituency-wise as the Railway projects may span across State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2024, 55 projects (31 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 22 Doubling),  of  total  length  of  5,064  Km,  costing  ₹79,356  crore  falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Bihar  including  those  falling  fully/partly  in Jamui Constituency are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 1194 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹26,983 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North  Eastern  Railway  (NER)  and  Northeast  Frontier  Railway  (NFR) Zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain.

Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:-

| Year    | Budget Outlay   | % change w.r.t. avg. annual allocation of 2009-14   |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14 | ₹1132 Cr.       | -                                                   |
| 2023-24 | ₹8505 Cr.       | 651% more                                           |

Completion  of  any  Railway  project/s  depends  on  various  factors  like quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forestry  clearance  by officials  of  forest  department, deposition of State share by the State Government  in  cost  sharing  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  of  the  project/s.  With  above  constraints,  every effort is being made to complete these projects at the earliest.

In last 3 years (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and current Financial Year i.e.  2024-25), 72 surveys (12 New line & 60 Doubling) of length 3,889 km falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar have been sanctioned and 21  surveys  (11  New  line  &  10  Doubling)  of  length  1,340  km  falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar have been completed. Sanctioning of Railway projects is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian Railway. Railway Infrastructure Projects are taken up on the basis  of  remunerativeness,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing  links  and alternate  routes,  augmentation  of  congested/saturated  lines  socioeconomic  considerations  etc.  Depending  upon  liabilities  of  ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands. Jamui  is  already  existing  on  Indian  Railways  network  between  Kiul and  Jhajha  on  Delhi-Howrah  Route.  However,  to  further  improve  rail connectivity  to  Jamui  region,  3  more  railway  projects  namely  (i) Bariarpur-Mananpur  (68  Km)  new  line  project  costing  ₹250  Cr.,  (ii) Nawada-Laxmipur (137 Km) new line project costing ₹3120 Cr. and (iii) Jhajha-Batia (20 Km) new line project costing ₹496 Cr. falling in close proximity of Jamui  region have been sanctioned. Various steps being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati  Shakti Directorate in the Ministry and Gati Shakti units in field, (ii) prioritisation  of  projects,  (iii)  substantial  increase  in  allocation  of funds, (iv) delegation of powers at field level, (v) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels (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.

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