Lok Sabha Question No. 5400 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: Broad Gauge Line from Kodaikanal Road to Theni
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Thiru Thanga Tamilselvan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5400 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## BROAD GAUGE LINE FROM KODAIKANAL ROAD TO THENI

## 5400. THIRU THANGA TAMILSELVAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

whether  the  Union  Government  has  any  proposal  to  lay  a  new  broadgauge  lines  from  Kodaikanal  Road  to  Theni  which  is  48  kilometer  in distance  and  Bodi-Rameshwaram,  keeping  in  view  the  long  pending demands from the people of Theni Lok Sabha Constituency and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

Kodaikonal Road is connected to Theni with existing railway network via Madurai. Bodinayakkanur is also directly connected to Rameshwaram  with existing railway network via Madurai.

To provide additional connectivity in the region, survey of Theni - Erumeli new line (107 Km) has been sanctioned for preparation of DPR.

After  firming  up  of  Detailed  Project  Report  (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 cannot be fixed.

§

## Tamil Nadu:-

## Railway Budget:-

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

| Period   | Outlay                              |
|----------|-------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹879 crore/year                     |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 6,626 crore (more than 7.5 times) |

## Project sanctioned:-

As  on  01.04.2025,  15  projects  (09  new  line,  03  gauge  conversion  and  03 doubling) of 1,700 km length, costing ₹22,808 Crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are sanctioned.  The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of sanctioned projects | Total Length (in km)   |   Length Commissioned upto Mar'25 (in km) | Expenditure upto Mar' 25 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| New Line                |                            9 | 812                    |                                        24 | 1,337                                 |
| Gauge Conversion        |                            3 | 748                    |                                       604 | 3,471                                 |
| Doubling /Multitracking |                            3 | 140                    |                                        37 | 2,783                                 |
| Total                   |                           15 | 1,700                  |                                       665 | 7,591                                 |

Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

## Recently Completed Projects:-

Details of some of  the  recently  completed projects  falling fully / partly  in

## Tamil Nadu are as under :

|   S. N. | Project                                                                 | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Dindigul-Palani-Pollachi gauge conversion (121 km)                      | 610                 |
|       2 | Pollachi-Palghat gauge conversion (56 km)                               | 350                 |
|       3 | Pollachi-Podhanur gauge conversion (40 km)                              | 400                 |
|       4 | Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km)                | 1,122               |
|       5 | Mayiladuturai - Thiruvarur - Karaikkudi gauge conversion (187 km)       | 1,338               |
|       6 | Madurai-Bodiyakannur gauge conversion (90 km)                           | 593                 |
|       7 | Chengalpattu-Villupuram doubling (102 km)                               | 670                 |
|       8 | Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km)                                   | 83                  |
|       9 | Chennai Central-Basin Bridge doubling (2 km)                            | 31                  |
|      10 | Thanjavur-Ponmalai doubling (48 km)                                     | 370                 |
|      11 | Villupuram-Dindigul doubling (273 km)                                   | 2,000               |
|      12 | Chennai Beach-Korukkupet 3rd line (5 km)                                | 168                 |
|      13 | Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km)                                | 293                 |
|      14 | Omalur-Metturdam Patch doubling (29 km)                                 | 327                 |
|      15 | Chengalpattu - Villupuram and Tambaram - Chengalpattu-3rd line (133 km) | 1,122               |
|      16 | Salem-Magnesite Junction-Omalur doubling (11 km)                        | 115                 |
|      17 | Madurai- Maniyachi-Tuticorin doubling (160 km)                          | 1,891               |
|      18 | Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km)                                   | 1,752               |
|      19 | Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km)                            | 272                 |
|      20 | Karaikal-Peralam new line (23 km)                                       | 373                 |
|      21 | Northern End Port connectivity to Karaikal Port (1 km)                  | 18                  |

## Ongoing Projects:-

Some  of  the projects falling fully/partly  in  the State of Tamil Nadu which

## have been taken up are as under :

|   S.N | Project                                                 | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|     1 | Tindivanam-Nagari new line (184 km)                     | 3,631                |
|     2 | Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km)                    | 359                  |
|     3 | Nagapattinam - Tiruturaipundi new line (43 km)          | 742                  |
|     4 | Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (87 km)                 | 3,785                |
|     5 | Arakkonam yard 3rd & 4th line (6 km)                    | 98                   |
|     6 | Perambur - Ambattur 5th & 6th lines (6 Km)              | 178                  |
|     7 | Irugur-Podanur doubling (11 Km)                         | 277                  |
|     8 | Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4th Line (30 km)                  | 757                  |
|     9 | Attipattu - Gummidipundi 3rd & 4th line (23 km)         | 375                  |
|    10 | Tirupati-Pakala-Katpadi doubling (105 km)               | 1,332                |
|    11 | Tindivanam-Gingee-Tiruvannamalai New Line (71 Km)       | 1,400                |
|    12 | Atipattu - Puttur New Line (88 Km)                      | 1,700                |
|    13 | Chennai - Cuddulore via Mahabalipuram New Line (179 Km) | 2,670                |

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu   | 4,326 ha       |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Land Acquired                                    | 1,052 ha (24%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired                      | 3,274 ha (76%) |

Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

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

|   SN | Name of the project                          |   Total land required (in ha) |   Land acquired (in ha) |   Balance Land to be acquire d (in ha) |
|------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|    1 | Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) |                           276 |                      33 |                                    243 |
|    2 | Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km)            |                           189 |                       0 |                                    189 |
|    3 | Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km)         |                            92 |                      45 |                                     47 |
|    4 | Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line (41 km)     |                           196 |                       0 |                                    196 |
|    5 | Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line (52 km)       |                           152 |                       0 |                                    152 |

Further, Rameshwaram - Dhanushkodi new line (18 km) was sanctioned at a  cost  of    ₹734  Cr.  The  Foundation  Stone  of  the  project  was  laid  on 01.03.2019.  However,  the  project  could  not  be  started  because  the  land acquisition has not been undertaken by the State Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

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

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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