Lok Sabha Question No. 3041 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-11
Subject: Wardha–Nanded Rail Project
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3041

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026

## WARDHA NANDED RAIL PROJECT

## 3041. SHRI SANJAY UTTAMRAO DESHMUKH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of the Wardha-Nanded rail project;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  work  completed  on  this  project  so  far  since  the approval of this route;
- (c) whether the Government has examined the reasons for the delay in this project and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the timeline by when these reasons would be resolved/this project to be completed;
- (e) whether the Government has fixed any tentative timeline for this project and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)  the details of the concrete steps taken by the Government to expedite the progress of this work?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (f): Ministry of Railway has taken up the work of Wardha-Nanded (284 Km.)  new  line  project.  Wardha-Deoli-Kalamb  section  (38  Km)  has  been commissioned and work taken up in the balance section. An expenditure of ₹3,264 crore has been incurred upto March, 2025 with an outlay of ₹310 crore for the year 2025-26. The required 567 Ha. land has been acquired. Section wise progress of the project is as under:

|   S.N. | Name of Section                      | Status of Tunnels                                              | Status of Major Bridges                                                                                              |
|--------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1 | Wardha-Deoli- Kalamb section (38 Km) | Already Completed and Commissioned.                            | Already Completed and Commissioned.                                                                                  |
|      2 | Kalamb-Yavatmal section (40Km)       | Tunnel (2.9 km)  73 % excavation completed  Lining taken up  | There are 36 Major Bridge in this section, out of which 35 has been completed.                                       |
|      3 | Yavatmal-Digras section (79 Km)      | No tunnels in this section.                                    | There are 29 Major Bridge in this section, out of which 04 have been completed and work taken up in balance section. |
|      4 | Digras-Nanded section (127 Km)       | Tunnel (7.39 km)  64 % excavation completed  Lining taken up | There are 55 Major Bridge. Works have been taken up.                                                                 |

## Maharashtra Railway Budget:-

Budget  allocation  during  the  last  five  years  has  increased  significantly. Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                             |
|----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹1,171 crore/year                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹23,778 crore (More than 20 times) |

## Track Construction:

The  details  of  constructing  new  track  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Maharashtra during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under:

| Period   | New track    | Average commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------|---------------------------------------|
|          | Commissioned |                                       |
| 2009-14  | 292 Km       | 58.4 Km/year                          |
| 2014-25  | 2,292 Km     | 208.4 Km/year (More than 3 times)     |

## Projects sanctioned:

As on 01.04.2025, 38 projects (11 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversion and 25 Doubling),  of  a  total  length  of  5,098  km,  costing  ₹89,780  crore,  falling fully/partly in Maharashtra, including remote and tribal areas, are sanctioned. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of sanctioned Projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned Upto Mar'25 (Km)   | Exp. upto Mar'25 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| New Line                |                           11 | 1,355                  | 234                                    | 10,504                        |
| Gauge Conversion        |                           02 | 609                    | 334                                    | 4,286                         |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                           25 | 3,134                  | 1,792                                  | 24,617                        |
| Total                   |                           38 | 5,098                  | 2,360                                  | 39,407                        |

Contd….4/-

Recently completed projects:

Details  of  some  of  the  recently  completed  projects  falling  fully/partly  in Maharashtra are as under:

|   S.No. | Project                                     | Cost (₹ in crore)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Pune-Miraj-Londa Doubling (467 Km)          | 4,670               |
|       2 | Jabalpur-Gondia Gauge Conversion (300 Km)   | 2,005               |
|       3 | Chhindwara-Nagpur Gauge Conversion (150 Km) | 1,512               |
|       4 | Panvel-Pen Doubling (35 Km)                 | 263                 |
|       5 | Pen-Roha Doubling (40 Km)                   | 330                 |
|       6 | Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km)             | 2,448               |
|       7 | Mudkhed-Parbhani Doubling (81 Km)           | 673                 |
|       8 | Bhusawal-Jalgaon 3rd Line (24 Km)           | 325                 |
|       9 | Jalgaon-Bhusawal 4th Line (24 Km)           | 261                 |
|      10 | Daund-Gulbarga Doubling (225 Km)            | 3,182               |

Ongoing Projects:

To further improve the Railway Infrastructure in the state of Maharashtra, following works have been taken up:-

Contd….5/-

|   S.No. | Name of the project                                            | Cost (₹ In crore)   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar)-Beed-Parli Vaijnath New Line (261 Km) | 4,957               |
|       2 | Baramati-Lonand New Line (64 Km)                               | 1,844               |
|       3 | Wardha-Nanded New Line (284 Km)                                | 3,445               |
|       4 | Indore-Manmad New Line (360 Km)                                | 18,529              |
|       5 | Wadsa-Gadchiroli New Line (52 Km)                              | 1,886               |
|       6 | Jalna-Jalgaon New Line (174 Km)                                | 5,804               |
|       7 | Daund-Manmad Doubling (236 Km)                                 | 3,037               |
|       8 | Kalyan-Kasara 3rd Line (68 Km)                                 | 1,433               |
|       9 | Wardha-Nagpur 3rd Line (76 Km)                                 | 698                 |
|      10 | Wardha-Ballarshah 3rd Line (132 Km)                            | 1,385               |
|      11 | Itarsi-Nagpur 3rd Line (280 Km)                                | 2,450               |
|      12 | Rajnandgaon-Nagpur 3rd Line (228 Km)                           | 3,545               |
|      13 | Wardha-Nagpur 4th Line (79 Km)                                 | 1,137               |
|      14 | Jalgaon-Manmad 4th Line (160 Km)                               | 2,574               |
|      15 | Bhusawal-Khandwa 3rd & 4th Line (131 Km)                       | 3,285               |
|      16 | Solapur-Tuljapur-Osmanabad New Line (95 Km)                    | 2,933               |
|      17 | Panvel-Chowk Double Line (17 Km)                               | 491                 |
|      18 | Wardha-Balharshah 4th Line (135 Km)                            | 2,226               |
|      19 | Itarsi-Nagpur 4th Line (297 Km)                                | 5,010               |
|      20 | Wardha-Bhusawal 3rd & 4th Line (314 Km)                        | 9,197               |
|      21 | Asangaon-Kasara 4th Line (35 Km)                               | 794                 |

|   22 | Badlapur-Karjat 3rd & 4th Line (32 Km)   | 1,324   |
|------|------------------------------------------|---------|
|   23 | Gondia-Dongargarh 4th Line (84 Km)       | 2,223   |
|   24 | Gondia-Balharshah Doubling (240 Km)      | 4,819   |

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:

-  Land acquisition
-  Forest clearance
-  Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
-  Law and order situation in the area of project site
-  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc.

Various steps taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include:

-  Substantial increase in allocation of funds.
-  Delegation of powers at field level.
-  Close monitoring of progress of project at various levels.
-  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.

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