Lok Sabha Question No. 606 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Railway Developmental works in Kollam
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: N.K. Premachandran

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 606 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2023

RAILWAY DEVELOPMENTAL WORKS IN KOLLAM

606.  SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  complete  the  Railway Development works in a time-bound manner;

(b) if so, the details of action taken thereon;

(c)  the  details  regarding  the  railway  development  works/projects taken  by  the  Government  in  Kollam  Lok  Sabha  Constituency  from May 2019 and its status at present;

(d)  the details of Railway Development works in Kollam completed after May 2019;

(e) the details and list of pending railway development works in this Constituency; and

(f)  the  details  of  proposed  date  of  completion  of  developmental works initiated by Railways in Kollam after May 2019?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  606  BY  SHRI  N.K.  PREMACHANDRAN TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  06.12.2023  REGARDING RAILWAY DEVELOPMENTAL WORKS IN KOLLAM

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

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.

Zone-wise details of all Railway Projects including cost, expenditure and outlay 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)> Rail Budget/Pink Book  (year)> Railway-wise Works, Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme (RSP).

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 ..P/2

Wildlife  clearances  and  for  resolving  other  issues  pertaining  to projects. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

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).

(c) to (f): Railway infrastructural Projects in the State of Kerala are covered by Southern Railway(SR) Zone of Indian Railways.

As on 01.04.2023, 07 projects (2 new lines and 05 Doubling) of 409 km length, costing ` 9,436 crore falling fully/partly in Kerala including Kollam  parliamentary  constituency  are  under  different  stages  of planning/approval/execution.  An  expenditure  of ` 2,286  crore  has been incurred upto March 2023.

Some  of the Development  Works  falling fully / partly in the parliamentary constituency of Kollam which have been taken up are as follows:-

Augmentation  of  MEMU  shed,  development  of  Kollam  Railway Station  and  Punalur  Railway  Station  under  Amrit  Bharat  Station Scheme, Development of Multi-Disciplinary training centre in Trivandrum division.

Railway  Electrification  project  of  Kollam-Punalur  section  of  44  km length costing ` 75.46 crore has been completed after May, 2019.

Average  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety works, falling fully/ partly in Kerala including parliamentary constituency of Kollam is as under:-

| Period   | Average Outlay     | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 372 crore/year   | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 1,006 crore/year | 170% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | ` 2,033 crore      | 446% more                                                          |

During 2014-23, 125 Km section (29 km of Gauge Conversion and 96 km of Doubling) have been commissioned in the state at an average rate  13.89  km  per  year,  which  is  31%  more  than  commissioning during 2009-14 (10.6 Km/Yr.)

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).

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