Lok Sabha Question No. 375 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Mahesh Kashyap

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 375 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2024

## BASTAR DIVISION OF CHHATTISGARH

†375. SHRI MAHESH KASHYAP:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  number  of  railway  tracks  laid  and  trains  started  in  the country particularly in the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh from 2014 till date, year-wise;
- (b)  the  number  of  new  rail  projects  proposed  in  the  country particularly  for  the  Bastar  Division  of  Chhattisgarh  from  2014  till date; and
- (c) the number and details of the sanctioned projects out of the total projects and the budget allocated in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 375 BY SHRI MAHESH KASHYAP TO BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  27.11.2024  REGARDING  BASTAR DIVISION OF CHHATTISGARH

(a) to (c): The Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise/ district wise as the Railways' projects may span across state boundaries.

As  on  01.04.2024,  across  Indian  Railways  including  Chhattisgarh, 488  Railway  Infrastructure  projects  (187  New  Line,  40  Gauge Conversion and 261 Doubling) of total length 44,488 Km, costing approx. 7.44 lakh crore are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which,  12,045  Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. 2.92 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

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

The Average Annual Budget allocation for New  Line, Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling  Projects  across  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 sections 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                                      |

## CHHATTISGARH

Railway  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Chhattisgarh are covered by East Coast Railway (ECoR) and South East Central Railway (SECR) Zone of Indian Railways.

As  on  01.04.2024,  25  Projects  (8  New  Lines,  17  Doubling)  of  total length 2,731 Km, costing 37,018 crore falling fully/partly in Chhattisgarh  are  in  planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of which, 882 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of 14,919 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

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

| Period   | Average Outlay   | Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 311 crore/year   | -                                               |
| 2024-25  | 6,922 Cr.        | About 22 times                                  |

Moreover, Commissioning of sections (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Chhattisgarh during 2009-14 and 2014-2024 is as under:

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | Increase w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 32 km                       | 6.4 km/year                   |                                                        |
| 2014-24  | 999 km                      | 99.9 km/year                  | Around 16 times                                        |

During 2023-24, a total of 49 km of sections has been commissioned in Chhattisgarh.

During the last 10 years, 309 projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) of total length 19,748 km, costing approx. 2.32 lakh crore have been  sanctioned  across the country which  include 18 projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) of total length of 1,225 km, costing  10,182 crore falling fully/partly in Chhattisgarh.

Dallirajhara-  Rowghat-Jagdalpur  rail  line  project  (235  km)  passing through Bastar district has been taken up in two phases, DallirajharaRowghat (95 km) and RowghatJagdalpur (140 km). In Phase-I i.e. Dallirajhara- Rowghat, 77 km (Dallirajhara Taroki) has been commissioned and an expenditure of 1,028 Crore has  been  incurred  till  31.03.2024  on  this  project.  Detailed  Project Report (DPR) of Phase II i.e. Rowghat- Jagdalpur (140 km), costing 3,513.11 Crore has been prepared.

In  addition,  Surveys  for  the  following  New  Line  projects  falling fully/partly in Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh have been sanctioned:

Dhamtari- Banskot- Kondagaon (183 Km), Gadchiroli-Bijapur-Bacheli (490 Km) and Kothagudem-Kirandul (180 Km)

The completion of any Railway project(s) 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 climatic conditions etc.

As Railway network straddles across state and district boundaries, trains  are  introduced,  as  per  network  requirement  across  such boundaries.  During  the  period  2014-  2015  to  2023-24,  1931  train services  have  been  introduced  in  the  country,  which  include  the following  services  catering  to  the  stations  located  in  the  Bastar area of Chhattisgarh:

- (i)  18513/18514  Kirandul-Visakhapatnam  Express  introduced  w.e.f. 15.08.2018.
- (ii) 78823/78816 Dallirajhara-Keoti DEMU introduced w.e.f. 15.07.2019.

- (iii) 08834/08833 Raipur-Antagarh DEMU introduced w.e.f. 08.07.2023.

Besides, the following services have also been extended to cater to the needs of the passengers:

- (i)  78815/78818  Raipur-Durg  DEMU  extended  to  Gudum,  further  to Bhanupratappur, Keoti and Antagarh w.e.f. 01.02.2016, 15.04.2018, 30.05.2019 & 13.08.2022 respectively.
- (ii) 07823/08816 Dallirajhara-Keoti DEMU to Antagarh w.e.f. 14.04.2023.
- (iii) 08834/08833 Raipur-Antagarh DEMU to Tadoki w.e.f. 04.10.2023.

*****