Lok Sabha Question No. 1954 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: New Railway Line  between Belagavi-Kittur-Dharwar (Karnataka)
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Jagadish Shettar

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1954 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026

## NEW RAILWAY LINE BETWEEN BELAGAVI-KITTUR-DHARWAR (KARNATAKA)

## 1954. SHRI JAGADISH SHETTAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of the sanctioned new Belagavi-Kittur-Dharwar new Railway Line Formation project;
- (b) the timeline of the completion of proposed line; and
- (c)  whether  delay  in  implementation  of  the  said  project  has  led  to  an increase  in  the  estimated  cost  of  the  Project  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): Dharwad - Belgaum (Belagavi) via Kittur new line project (73 km) has been sanctioned on 50:50 cost sharing  basis and land to be provided free of cost by Government of Karnataka (GoK).

The  project  is  held  up  on  account  of  delay  in  land  acquisition  by  State Government of Karnataka.

## Karnataka

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

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹835 crore/year                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹7,564 crore (more than 9 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  25  projects  (15  new  lines,  10  doubling)  of  3,264  km length, costing ₹ 42,517 crore falling fully/partly in Karnataka 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                |                          15 | 2,034                  | 421                                    | 8,794                        |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                          10 | 1,230                  | 973                                    | 12,516                       |
| Total                   |                          25 | 3,264                  | 1,394                                  | 21,310                       |

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

|   S. No | Project                                  | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|---------|------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Kottur-Harihar new line (65 km)          | 468                 |
|       2 | Hassan-Bangalore new line (167 km)       | 1,290               |
|       3 | Bidar-Gulbarga new line (110 km)         | 1,543               |
|       4 | Shivani-Hosadurga Road doubling (10 km)  | 50                  |
|       5 | Shivani-Birur Doubling (29 km)           | 143                 |
|       6 | Hosadurga-Chikjajur doubling (29 km)     | 260                 |
|       7 | Ramanagram-Mysore patch doubling (94 km) | 998                 |
|       8 | Yelahanka - Chennasadra doubling (13 km) | 108                 |

|   9 | Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka doubling (12 km)      | 95    |
|-----|---------------------------------------------|-------|
|  10 | Netrawati-Mangalore Central doubling (2 km) | 28    |
|  11 | Kankanadi-Panambur doubling (19 km)         | 350   |
|  12 | Arsikere-Tumkur doubling (96 km)            | 758   |
|  13 | Yelahanka-Penukonda doubling (123 km)       | 1,104 |
|  14 | Daund-Gulbarga doubling (225 km)            | 3,182 |
|  15 | Hubli-Chikjajur doubling (190 km)           | 1,850 |

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

|   S No. | Project                                            | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Hospet-Hubli-Londa-Vasco-de-Gama doubling (312 km) | 4,153                |
|       2 | Hotgi-Gadag doubling (284 km)                      | 2,459                |
|       3 | Ginigera - Raichur new line (165 km)               | 3,401                |
|       4 | Gadag - Wadi new line (257 km)                     | 2,842                |
|       5 | Bagalkot - Kudachi new line (142 km)               | 1,649                |
|       6 | Tumkur - Rayadurga new line (207 km)               | 2,496                |
|       7 | Tumkur - Davangere new line (182 km)               | 2,142                |
|       8 | Kadur - Chikmagalur - Belur new line (68 km)       | 825                  |
|       9 | Baiyyapanahalli - Hosur doubling (48 km)           | 336                  |
|      10 | Yeshwanthpur - Channasandra doubling (22 km)       | 314                  |

in  last  three  years  2022-23,  2023-24,  2024-25  and  current  financial  year 2025-26, 65 surveys (25 new line and 40 doubling) covering a total length of 7,240 km has been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Karnataka.

Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:-

|   S No. | Project                                |   Total Land required (in ha) |   Land acquired (in ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in ha) |
|---------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|       1 | Shimoga - Rannebennur new line (96 km) |                           559 |                     226 |                                   333 |
|       2 | Belgaum - Dharwad new line (73 km)     |                           581 |                       0 |                                   581 |
|       3 | Shimoga - Harihar new line (79 km)     |                           488 |                       0 |                                   488 |
|       4 | Whitefield-Kolar new line (53 km)      |                           337 |                       0 |                                   337 |
|       5 | Hassan-Belur new line (32 km)          |                           206 |                       0 |                                   206 |

Summary of the status of land acquisition in Karnataka is as under:-

| Total Land required for Projects in Karnataka   | 9,064 ha       |
|-------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Land Acquired                                   | 5,707 ha (63%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired                     | 3,357 ha (37%) |

Government of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however  success depends upon the support of Government of Karnataka.

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

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

-  Land acquisition by State Government
-  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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