Lok Sabha Question No. 325 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-18
Subject: Expansion of Rail Network in Southern Railway
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Selvam G, Shri C N Annadurai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 325

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024

## EXPANSION OF RAIL NETWORK IN SOUTHERN RAILWAY

*325. SHRI C N ANNADURAI: SHRI SELVAM G:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  received  proposals  from  various States for the expansion of the rail network;
- (b) if so, the details thereof during the last five years, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the action taken/planned by the Government on these proposals;
- (d) the details of proposals for expanding the rail network across the country including new routes planned or under consideration;
- (e) the criteria used by the Government to identify areas or routes for rail  network expansion and to address the regional connectivity gaps in the process;
- (f) whether there is any plan to extend rail connectivity to rural and remote  areas  that  currently  lack  access  in  the  State  of  Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the steps taken by the Government to expand the rail network in Southern Railways?

## ANSWER

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

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (g)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 325 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024

(a) to (g): Proposals/requests/suggestions/representations, both formal and informal for Railway projects/Works are received on the basis of demands  raised  by State Governments,  Members  of  Parliament, Ministries  of  Central  Government,  elected  representatives,  Railways' own  requirements,  organizations/rail  users etc. at various levels including  Railway  Board,  Zonal  Railways,  Division  Office  etc.  As receipt of such proposals/complaints/suggestions is a continuous and dynamic  process,  centralized  compendium  of  such  requests  is  not maintained. However, these are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time.

Railway  projects  are  surveyed/  sanctioned/executed  Zonal  Railway wise  and  not  State-wise  as  the  Railway  projects  may  span  across State  boundaries.  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned  on  the  basis  of remunerativeness,  traffic  projections,  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, regional connectivity gaps  etc.  depending  upon  throwforward  of  ongoing  projects  and overall availability of funds. Sanctioning of project requires consultation  with  various  stake-holders  including  State  Governments and  necessary  approvals  viz.  appraisal  of  NITI  Aayog,  Ministry  of Finance etc.

As on 01.04.2024, across Indian Railways, 488 Railway infrastructure projects  (187  New  Line,  40  Gauge  Conversion  and  261  Doubling)  of total  length  44,488  Km,  costing approx.  Rs.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.  Rs.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 (Rs. in Cr)   |
|--------------------------|------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 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                            |

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)      |

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

During  the  last  05  years  i.e.  FY  2019-20,  2020-21,  2021-22,  2022-23, 2023-24  and  in  current  FY  2024-25,  232  projects  (New  Line,  Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling)  of  total  length  9,430  Km  costing  approx. Rs.1,71,646  Crore  have  been  sanctioned  across  Indian  Railways. Furthermore, during this period, 991 surveys (307 New Line, 15 Gauge Conversion  &  669  Doubling)  of  total  length  64,928  Km  have  been sanctioned.

The launch of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) has brought transformative  approach  in  planning  and  execution  of  infrastructural transportation projects. The NMP, spanning across the entire country has  brought  in  synergy  between  the  infrastructural  sectors  such  as etc. Ministries/State Governments/Departments, speeding up the clearances needed for the railways, shipping,  roadways, telecommunications,  pipelines, through collaboration amongst concerned project completion as well as planning at a faster pace.

Indian Railways has imbibed the principles of Gati Shakti in its project planning process and now survey of all New Line, Gauge Conversion and  Doubling  projects  are  taken  up  under  PM  Gati  Shakti  National Master    Plan    (NMP)    for    the    development      of      multimodal an objective  to  have  integrated  planning,  enhanced  logistics  efficiency goods/ commodities i.e. agricultural products, fertilizers, coal, iron ore, steel, connectivity infrastructure to various Economic Zones with and remove gaps for seamless movement of people, cement,  limestone etc.  and  services including connectivity to places ..P/4

of  strategic  importance,  border  areas,  industrial  clusters,  ports, mines, power plants, villages etc.

## Tamil Nadu

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are covered under Southern Railway (SR), South Central Railway (SCR)  and  South  Western  Railway  (SWR)  zones  of  Indian  Railways. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

As  on  01.04.2024,  22  Railways  projects  (10  new  line,  03  Gauge conversion  and  09  doubling)  of  total  length  2,587  Km,  costing  Rs. 33,467  crore,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  are  at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 665 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 7,153 crore has been incurred upto March' 2024. The status of work is summarized as under:-

| Plan Head               |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) |   Expenditure upto March 2024 (Rs. in Cr.) |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Line                |                10 |                    872 |                            24 |                                       1223 |
| Gauge Conversion        |                 3 |                    748 |                           604 |                                       3267 |
| Doubling /Multitracking |                 9 |                    967 |                            37 |                                       2663 |
| Total                   |                22 |                   2587 |                           665 |                                       7153 |

## Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                             |
|----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs.879 crore/year                  |
| 2024-25  | Rs.6,362 crore (more than 7 times) |

Though fund allocation has increased manifold but pace of execution of  project  is  dependent  on  expeditious  land  acquisition.  Railway acquires the land through State Government and the completion of a railway project is dependent on land acquisition.  However, execution of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu   | 3389 Ha       |
|--------------------------------------------------|---------------|
| Land Acquired                                    | 866 Ha (26%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                      | 2523 Ha (74%) |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu.  For instance, details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:-

|   SN | Name of the project                         |   Total land required (in Ha) |   Land acquired (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|------|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    1 | Tindivanam -Tiruvannamalai New line (71 km) |                           273 |                      33 |                                   240 |
|    2 | Attiputtu - Puttur New Line (88 km)         |                           189 |                       0 |                                   189 |
|    3 | Morappur - Dharmapuri (36 km)               |                            93 |                       0 |                                    93 |
|    4 | Mannargudi - Pattukkottai (41 km)           |                           152 |                       0 |                                   152 |
|    5 | Thanjavur - Pattukottai (52 Km)             |                           196 |                       0 |                                   196 |

During last five  years  i.e.  FY  2019-20,  FY  2020-21,  FY  2021-2022,  FY 2022-23,  FY  2023-24  and  current  Financial  Year  2024-25,  total  04 projects (  01  New  Line  and  03  Doubling)  of  a  total  length  of  75  Km, costing Rs.932 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu have been sanctioned. These projects will inter-alia enhance connectivity to remote and rural areas.

Survey of total 26 projects (04 New Line & 22 Doubling) of total length 2252  km  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  have  been sanctioned during last five years i.e. 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 202223, 2023-24 and current Financial Year 2024-25.

The completion of any Railway project 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.

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  approval  and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close  monitoring  of  progress  of project at various levels, and (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.  This  has  led  to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

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