Lok Sabha Question No. 924 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-02
Subject: Gauge Conversion, New Railway Lines and Doubling of Railway Lines
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: CHANDRAKANT RAGHUNATH PATIL, JAYSHREEBEN  PATEL, DILIP PATEL, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 924 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.03.2016

## GAUGE CONVERSION, NEW RAILWAY LINES AND DOUBLING OF RAILWAY LINES

924.  SHRI C.R. PATIL:

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL:

SHRI DILIP PATEL:

PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the railways has received any proposals/ representations  from  various  Organisations  /Road  users  as  well as  from  the  Government  of  Gujarat  and  Maharashtra  for  gauge conversion,  new  railway  lines  and  doubling  of  railway  lines, which  are  essential  and  obvious  for  development  of  ports  and industries;
- (b) if  so, the details thereof and the number of proposals approved, State/ zone-wise; and
- (c) the time by which the work is likely to be started along with the probable time frame for each project?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (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.  924  BY  SHRI  C.R.  PATIL,  SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN  PATEL,  SHRI  DILIP  PATEL  AND  PROF.  RAVINDRA VISHWANATH  GAIKWAD  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON 02.03.2016  REGARDING  GAGUE  CONVERSION,  NEW  RAILWAY  LINES AND DOUBLING OF RAILWAY LINES.

(a)  to  (c):  Requests  for  new  lines,  gauge  conversion,  doubling,  etc. both formal as well as informal, are received by Railways at various levels i.e. Railway Board, Zonal Railways and Divisional Headquarters, etc.  As  receipt  of  such  requests/suggestions  is  a  continuous  and dynamic  process,  centralized  compendium  of  such  requests  is  not maintained. However, such demands from State Governments, public representatives, etc. form an important basis for sanction of surveys and new projects.

As on 01.04.2015, there are 19 major projects, comprising 2 new line, 8 gauge conversion and 9 doubling projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, having a total length of 2815 Km costing ` 16753. An expenditure of ` 3688 crore has been incurred up to March, 2015, with an outlay of ` 3078 crore for the year 2015-16.  An outlay of ` 3420 crore has been proposed in the Budget 2016-17.

Similarly, as on 01.04.2015, there are 28 major projects, comprising 7 new line, 4 gauge conversion and 17 doubling projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra, having a total length of 4423  Km  costing ` 33076.  An  expenditure  of ` 4773  crore  has  been incurred up to March, 2015, with an outlay of ` 4457 crore for the year 2015-16.  An outlay of ` 4197 crore has been proposed in the Budget 2016-17.

Completion  of  these  projects  is  dependent  upon  many  factors such  as  land  acquisition,  statutory  clearances  like  forestry  and  wild life  clearances,  shifting  of  services,  cutting  of  trees,  construction  of road over bridges and road under bridges by road maintaining agencies,  apart  from  availability  of  adequate  funds.  Since  many  of these factors are beyond the control of Ministry of Railways, timelines for completion of all the projects are not feasible to be fixed.

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