Lok Sabha Question No. 1607 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Ongoing Railway Projects in Assam and North-Eastern States
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Dilip Saikia

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1607 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2024

## ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ASSAM AND NORTH-EASTERN STATES

†1607    SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  project-wise  details  of  the  ongoing  railway  Projects  in Assam and other North-Eastern  States;
- (b) the  total  budgetary  allocation  in  present  financial  year  for  the development  of  railways  in  Assam  and  other  North-Eeastern States and the amount of funds released and utilised till now; and
- (c) the deadline for completion of the said projects and the present status thereof?

## 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. 1607 BY SHRI DILIP SAIKIA TO BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  04.12.2024  REGARDING  ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ASSAM AND NORTH-EASTERN STATES

(a)  to  (c):  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, socioeconomic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

As  on  01.04.2024,  18  Railway  projects  (13  New  Lines  and  05 Doubling),  of  total  length  of  1,368  Km,  costing  ₹74,972  crore  falling fully/partly in the North East Region including the state of Assam, are at  various  stages  of  planning  and  implementation,  out  of  which  313 Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹40,549 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 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| New Lines   |                13 |                    896 |                            81 | 34,616                                    |
| Doubling    |                 5 |                    472 |                           232 | 5,933                                     |
| Total       |                18 |                   1368 |                           313 | 40,549                                    |

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.

Average  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  other works, falling fully/ partly in North East Region including the State of Assam is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                         |
|----------|--------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹2,122 Crore/year              |
| 2024-25  | ₹10,376 Crore (Nearly 5 times) |

Commissioning of infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of North East Region including Assam is given below:

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 333 Km                   | 66.6 Km/year                          |
| 2014-24  | 1728 Km                  | 172.8 Km/year (Nearly 3 times )       |

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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