Lok Sabha Question No. 531 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Railway Projects in Chhattisgarh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Arun Sao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 531 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2023

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN CHHATTISGARH

† 531. SHRI ARUN SAO:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  is  making  efforts  to  approve  and materialise the railway projects sanctioned in the budget provisions of the country since 2019;

(b)  if  so,  the  details  of  railway  budget  announcements  approved since  2019  for  Chhattisgarh  including  South  East  Central  Railway Zone Bilaspur along with the projects which have been implemented in public interest and those lying pending, year/budget-wise; and

(c) the efforts being made by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS 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.  531  BY  SHRI  ARUN  SAO  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  06.12.2023  REGARDING  RAILWAY PROJECTS IN CHHATTISGARH

(a):   The Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not State wise/UT wise as the Railways' projects may span across various state boundaries.

During the last five years i.e. FY 2019-20, FY 2020-21, FY 2021-22, FY 2022-23 and current FY 2023-24 (upto 30 th  November, 2023), 155 New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects of a total length of  5,555  km,  costing ` 84,561  Crore  have  been  sanctioned  across Indian Railways.

As on 01.04.2023, across Indian Railways, 459 Railway Infrastructure projects (189 New Line, 39 Gauge Conversion and 231 Doubling) of total length 46,360 Km, costing approx. ` 7.18 lakh crore are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 11,872 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. ` 2.61 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2023.

The Average Annual Budget allocation for New  Line, Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling  Projects  across  Indian  Railways  is  given below:

| Period   | Average Outlay      | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 11,527 crore/year | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 36,432 crore/year | 216% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | ` 67,199 crore      | 483% more                                                          |

During  2014-23,  across  Indian  Railway,  25,871  km  sections  (5,785 km New Line, 5,749 km Gauge Conversion and 14,337 km Doubling has  been  commissioned  at  an  average  of  2,875  km/year  which  is 89%  more  than  the  average  commissioning  during  2009-14  (1,520 km/year).

(b): During the last five years i.e. FY 2019-20, FY 2020-21, FY 202122, FY 2022-23 and current FY 2023-24 (upto 30 th  November, 2023), 11  Doubling  Projects  of  a  total  length  of  189  km,  costing ` 2,283 crore falling fully/partly in the state of Chhattisgarh including South East Central Railway have been sanctioned.

Zonal Railway wise/year-wise details of projects including expenditure  and  Budget  outlay  project-wise  on  each  project  are made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railways  website  i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in>Ministry of Railways >Railway Board >About  Indian Railways  >Railway  Board  Directorates  >Finance (Budget)  >Regular  Budget/Pink  Book(year)  Railway  wise  Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.

As  on  01.04.2023,  26  Projects  (8  New  Lines,  18  Doubling)  of  total length 2,806 Km, costing ` 36,968 crore falling fully/partly in Chhattisgarh  are  in  planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of which, 847 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 12,705 crore has been incurred upto March, 2023.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in fund allocation and commensurate commissioning of Projects.

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 311 crore/year  | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 3106 crore/year | 899% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | ` 6008 crore      | 1832% more                                                         |

During  2014-23,  950  Km  sections  (179  Km  New  Line  and  771  Km Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Chhattisgarh have been commissioned at an average rate 105.56 Km/year, which is 1549% more than commissioning during 2009-14 (6.4 Km/year).

(c): Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  approval and  implementation  of  rail  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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