Lok Sabha Question No. 2753 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-11
Subject: Railway Line Project from Banka to Sultanganj, Bihar
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Ramprit Mandal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2753

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2024

## RAILWAY LINE PROJECT FROM BANKA TO SULTANGANJ, BIHAR

† 2753.  SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  status  of  the  proposed  Railway  line  project  from  Banka  to Sultanganj in Bihar;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to start the said new railway line project in the financial year 2024-25; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (c):    Banka  and  Sultanganj  falling  in  the  State  of  Bihar  are already  connected  by  Indian  Railways  network  via  Barhat  Jn.  and Bhagalpur Jn.

Railway  projects  are  surveyed/  sanctioned/executed  Zonal  Railway wise  and  not  State-wise/Constituency-wise  as  the  Railway  projects may span across State/Constituency 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.

Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North  Eastern  Railway  (NER)  and  Northeast  Frontier  Railway  (NFR) Zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain.

As on 01.04.2024, 55 projects (31 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 22 Doubling), of total length of 5,064 Km, costing Rs. 79,356 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are in planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of  which,  1194  km  length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  Rs.  26,983  crore  has been incurred upto March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned till March, 2024 (in Km) |   Total Exp. upto March, 2024 (Rs. in Cr.) |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                31 |                   2712 |                                            464 |                                      13629 |
| Gauge Conversion         |                 2 |                    348 |                                            288 |                                       1520 |
| Doubling/Multi -tracking |                22 |                   2005 |                                            442 |                                      11834 |
| Total                    |                55 |                   5064 |                                           1194 |                                      26983 |

The  details  of  outlay  for  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in the State of Bihar is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                          |
|----------|---------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs. 1132 Cr./year               |
| 2024-25  | Rs. 10,033 Cr. (Nearly 9 times) |

The details of commissioning/ laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 318 Km                   | 63.6 Km                               |
| 2023-24  | 361 Km                   | 361 Km (More than 5 times)            |

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