Lok Sabha Question No. 45 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: Pune-Nashik Semi-High Speed Railway Project
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 45

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025

## PUNE - NASHIK SEMI - HIGH SPEED RAILWAY PROJECT

- *45.  DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  current  status/progress  of  the  Pune-Nashik  semihigh-speed railway project including land acquisition process/challenges being faced;
- (b) the details of total budgetary allocation for this project during the last three Union Budgets and the actual expenditure incurred till date;
- (c) the revised timeline for completion of the project along with the steps being taken to fast-track the work; and
- (d) the manner in which the Government ensures that this project will not only benefit industries but also provide an affordable/reliable mode of transport  for  the  general  public  and  farmers  of  the  Shirur  Lok  Sabha Constituency?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 45 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025.

(a)  to  (d):  To  improve  connectivity  between  Pune  and  Nashik,  following surveys/works have been taken up:-

|   S.No. | Name of the Work                         |   Length in km. | Status                      |
|---------|------------------------------------------|-----------------|-----------------------------|
|       1 | Nashik - Sainagar Shirdi New Double Line |              95 | DPR prepared                |
|       2 | Sainagar Shirdi - Puntamba- Doubling     |              16 | Project recently sanctioned |
|       3 | Puntamba -Nimblak Doubling               |              80 | Recently Commissioned       |
|       4 | Nimblak - Ahilyanagar Doubling           |               6 | Work in progress            |
|       5 | Ahilyanagar- Pune New Double Line        |             133 | DPR prepared                |

The proposed Ahilyanagar- Pune New Double Line (133 Km) for which DPR has proposed is passing through Shirur constituency area.

After preparation of DPR, sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals  viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog,  Ministry of Finance  etc.  As sanctioning  of  projects  is  a  continuous  and  dynamic  process,  exact timelines depend upon appraisals and approvals by various stakeholders.

To  provide  connectivity  between  Pune  and  Nashik  via  Sangamner  (near Akole),  another  DPR  was  prepared  by  Maharashtra  Rail  Infrastructure

Development  Corporation  Ltd. (MRIDC), a Joint  Venture  company  of Government of Maharashtra (50%) and Ministry of Railways (50%).

The  proposed  alignment  in  the  DPR  was  passing  through  Narayangaon where National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Pune has installed Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) Observatory.  GMRT has users from  31  number  of  countries  (till  28th  Cycle)  that  uses  its  services  for scientific observations.

Department  of  Atomic  Energy  has  advised  Ministry  of  Railways  that  the alignment  is  passing  near  the  GMRT  Observatory  and  will  have  potential interference and harmful impact on its operations.  As such, this alignment was not found acceptable due to adverse impact on the GMRT Observatory.

## Maharashtra

Budget allocation in  the  recent  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) |

The details of commissioning/laying of 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       |
|----------|--------------|------------------------------------|
|          | Commissioned | tracks                             |
| 2009-14  | 292 Km       | 58.4 Km/year                       |
| 2014-25  | 2,292 Km     | 208.36 Km/year (more than 3 times) |

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,  are  sanctioned,  out  of  which  2,360  km  length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of    ₹39,407  crore  has  been incurred upto March' 2025. 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/Multitracki ng |                          25 | 3,134                  | 1,792                                  | 24,617                        |
| Total                   |                          38 | 5,098                  | 2,360                                  | 39,407                        |

## 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 | Manmad- Jalgaon 3rd line (160 Km.)          | 2,574               |
|       3 | Jabalpur-Gondia Gauge Conversion (300 Km)   | 2,005               |
|       4 | Chhindwara-Nagpur Gauge Conversion (150 Km) | 1,512               |
|       5 | Panvel-Pen Doubling (35 Km)                 | 263                 |
|       6 | Pen-Roha Doubling (40 Km)                   | 330                 |
|       7 | Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km)             | 2,448               |
|       8 | Mudkhed-Parbhani Doubling (81 Km)           | 673                 |

|   S.No. | Project                           | Cost (₹ in crore)   |
|---------|-----------------------------------|---------------------|
|       9 | Bhusawal-Jalgaon 3rd Line (24 Km) | 325                 |
|      10 | Jalgaon-Bhusawal 4th line (24 Km) | 261                 |
|      11 | Daund-Gulbarga Doubling (225 Km)  | 3,182               |

Some  of  the  main  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  Maharashtra  which have been taken up are as under:

|   S.N o. | Name of the project                                | Cost (₹ In crore)   |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Ahilyanagar-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 | Manmad-Indore 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               |

In  the last three years 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and the current financial year 2025-26, 98 surveys (29 New Line, 2 Gauge Conversion and 67 Doubling)

of total length 8603 Km. falling fully/ partly in the State of Maharashtra have been sanctioned under PM Gati Shakti NMP.

Sanction  of  any  railway  project  depends  upon  many  parameters/factors which include the following:

-  Anticipated traffic projections and Remunerativeness of the proposed route
-  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project
-  Connection of missing links and providing additional route
-  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
-  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,
-  Railway's own operational requirements
-  Socio-economic considerations
-  Overall availability of funds

Further, Construction works on the flagship High speed bullet train project have gathered momentum in Maharashtra. Now 100% land acquisition  has been completed. Works of bridges, aqueducts etc. have been taken up.

Western  DFC  also  passes  through  Maharashtra.  About  178  route  Km  of western DFC is situated in Maharashtra which is about 12% of overall route length  of  western  DFC.  76  Km  of  this  project  from  New  Gholvad  to  New Vaitarna  in  Maharashtra  has  already  been  commissioned.  Balance  works have been taken up. Connectivity of WDFC to JNPT will boost the capacity to handle cargo and container traffic from port to Delhi NCR.

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. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

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