Lok Sabha Question No. 402 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: New and Pending Rail Projects in the Country particularly in  Bihar
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Devesh Chandra Thakur

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 402 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2024

## NEW AND PENDING RAIL PROJECTS IN THE COUNTRY PARTICULARLY IN BIHAR

†402. SHRI DEVESH CHANDRA THAKUR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  new  and  pending  rail  projects  in  the  country including Bihar;
- (b) whether the progress of these projects is as per schedule and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to complete the said projects with in time limit?

## 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.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  402  BY  SHRI  DEVESH  CHANDRA THAKUR  TO BE ANSWERED  IN LOK SABHA ON 27.11.2024 REGARDING NEW AND PENDING RAIL PROJECTS IN THE COUNTRY PARTICULARLY IN BIHAR

(a) to (c):   Railway projects/surveys are not sanctioned Statewise/District-wise/Region-wise/Constituency-wise, but sanctioned Zone  wise  as  Indian  Railways'  projects  may  span  across  State boundaries/Parliamentary Constituencies. Railway projects are taken up Zonal Railway-wise on the basis of remunerativeness, 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, socio-economic  considerations  etc.  depending  upon  throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

As  on  01.04.2024,  across  Indian  Railways  including  Bihar,  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.  The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No of Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (in km)   | Length Commissioned till Mar'24 (in Km)   | Total Exp upto Mar'24 ( in Crore)   |
|-------------------------|------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| New lines               |              187 | 20,199                          | 2,855                                     | 1,60,022                            |
| Gauge conversion        |               40 | 4,719                           | 2,972                                     | 18,706                              |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |              261 | 19,570                          | 6,218                                     | 1,13,742                            |
| TOTAL                   |              488 | 44,488                          | 12,045                                    | 2,92,470                            |

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  details  of  outlay  for  infrastructure  projects  across  Indian Railways is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                       |
|----------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 11,527 crore/year            |
| 2024-25  | 68,634 crore (about 6 times) |

The  details  of  commissioning/  laying  of  new  track  across  Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 km                 | 4.2 km/day                            |
| 2014-24  | 31,180 km                | 8.54 km/day (more than 2 times)       |

## BIHAR

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.

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 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. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length (in km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Exp upto March 2024 ( in cr.)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| New Line                |                31 | 2712                   | 464                           | 13629                           |
| Gauge                   |                 2 | 348                    | 288                           | 1520                            |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                22 | 2005                   | 442                           | 11834                           |
| TOTAL                   |                55 | 5,064                  | 1,194                         | 26,983                          |

..P/4

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

| Period   | Outlay                                |
|----------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 1,132 crore/year                      |
| 2024-25  | 10,033 crore/year (More than 8 times) |

The details of commissioning/ laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar during 2009-14 and 2014-24 is as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 318 Km                   | 63.6 Km/Year                          |
| 2014-24  | 1,669 Km                 | 166.9 Km/Year (Nearly 2.62 times)     |

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. and all these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project(s).

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  effective  and  speedy implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  substantial  increase  in allocation of funds, (ii) delegation of powers at field level, (iii) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels (iv) 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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