Lok Sabha Question No. 458 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: No Railway Network in Sirohi (Rajasthan)
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Lumbaram Choudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 458 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2024

## NO RAILWAY NETWORK IN SIROHI (RAJASTHAN)

†458    SHRI LUMBA RAM:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- a. whether  the  Government  is aware  that  Sirohi  parliamentary constituency is not connected with railways even after     seventy six  years  of  independence  and  development  is  not  taking  place due to lack of railways network in the district and if so, the details thereof; and
- b. whether the Government proposes to connect all the aspirational districts of the country including Sirohi headquarter with railways on priority basis and if so, the details thereof ?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) & (b): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED  TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  458  BY  SHRI  LUMBA  RAM  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  27.11.2024  REGARDING NO  RAILWAY NETWORK IN SIROHI (RAJASTHAN)

(a) & (b): 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.  Sanction of New Railway lines in areas which are not connected by Railway network including aspirational districts is a continuous and an ongoing process of Indian Railways.

As  on  01.04.2024,  across  Indian  Railways  including  Sirohi  district  of Rajasthan,  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.  These  projects  will  provide  connectivity  to  unconnected  areas with Railway network including aspirational districts.

## Rajasthan

Railway projects in Rajasthan are covered by Northern Railway, North Central  Railway,  North  Western  Railway,  West  Central  Railway  and Western  Railway  Zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zone  wise  details  of Railway  projects,  including  cost,  expenditure  and  outlay  are  made available in public domain on Indian Railways website.

As on 01.04.2024, 32 Railway infrastructure projects (15 new lines, 05 gauge conversion and 12 doubling), costing ₹ 51814 crore for 4191 km length  falling  fully/partly  in  Rajasthan  are  under  different  stages  of planning/approval/execution.  Out  of  which  1183  km  length  has  been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 14786 crore has been incurred upto March 2024. The summary is as under :

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length (in km)   | Length Commissioned (Km)   | Exp upto March 2024 (₹ in cr.)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------|
| New lines               |                15 | 1230                   | 134                        | 3593                             |
| Gauge conversion        |                 5 | 1252                   | 759                        | 5398                             |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                12 | 1709                   | 290                        | 5794                             |
| TOTAL                   |                32 | 4,191                  | 1,183                      | 14,785                           |

Since  2014,  there  has  been  substantial  increase  in  Budget  allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects. Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and other works, falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                       |
|----------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 682 Cr./Yr                 |
| 2023-24  | ₹ 9532 Cr. (Nearly 14 times) |
| 2024-25  | ₹ 9959 Cr. (Nearly 15 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  | 798 Km                   | 159.6 km/year                         |
| 2014-24  | 3742 Km                  | 374.2 km/year (More than 2 times)     |

Further,  survey  of  total  55  projects  (23  new  line  and  32  doubling)  of total length 4,944 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan have been sanctioned during last three years (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and current Financial Year 2024-25).

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest  department,  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  etc.  All  these factors affect the completion time of the project/s.

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  effective  and  speedy implementation   of   rail   projects   include  (i)  substantial   increase in …4/-

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.

Sirohi  district  is  already  connected  to  the  Indian  Railways  network. Some of the projects passing through Sirohi district are as under:

1. To improve the mobility and cater to the growing traffic demand, the work of doubling between Luni - Samdari - Bhildi (272 Km) section costing ₹ 3085.59 crore has been sanctioned in 2023-24.
2. Double  line  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (DFC)  passes  through  Sirohi district.
3. Taranga Hill - Ambaji  -  Abu road new  line  project  (116.65  Km)  has been sanctioned at cost of ₹ 2798.16 crore in 2022. An expenditure of ₹ 798 cr has incurred till October'24.

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