Ongoing Railway Projects in Jharkhand

Ongoing Railway Projects in Jharkhand

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1591

ANSWERED ON 10.12.2021

RAILWAY PROJECTS IN JHARKHAND

1591 SHRI SAMIR ORAON:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) The number of railway projects on which Railways is working on in State of Jharkhand at present and the number of such projects which have been completed / are in a state of completion, the total cost incurred on the said projects;
(b) The status of the proposed Tori – Gumla – Korba railway line project, whether the survey work for the said project has been completed, the amount of money spent on the same till now; and
(c) Whether Government proposes to run any next generation train through Jharkhand State?

ANSWER: MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1591 BY SHRI SAMIR ORAON ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 10.12.2021 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN JHARKHAND

(a): Railway Infrastructure projects are not sanctioned State – wise or district – wise. Projects are sanctioned and executed Zonal Railway wise as Indian Railways’ projects may span across State boundaries. However, presently 32 projects (13 new lines, 01 gauge conversions and 18 doublings), costing Rs. 42,671 crore, covering a length of 2,795 Km, falling fully / partly in the State of Jharkhand are in different stages of planning / approval / execution. Out of which 631 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 12,729 crore has been incurred upto March’21. These include:

• 13 new lines projects covering a length of 1,430 km, costing Rs. 25,614 crore, out of which, 398 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 6,807 crore has been incurred upto March’21.
• 01 gauge conversion projects covering a length of 159 km, costing Rs. 1,455 crore, out of which, 90 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 184 crore has been incurred upto March’21.
• 18 doubling projects covering a length of 1,206 km, costing Rs. 15,602 crore, out of which, 143 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 5,738 crore has been incurred upto March’21.

Railway infrastructure projects in the State of Jharkhand are covered by East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER) South Eastern Railway (SER) and South East Central Railway (SECR) Zones of Indian Railways. Zone wise details of project including cost, expenditure and outlay are available in public domain on Indian Railways website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in> Ministry of Railways> Railway Board > About Indian Railways> Railway Board Directorates> Finance (Budget)> Pink Book (year)>Railways – wise Works, Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme (RSP).

There is substantial increase in Railway Budget allocation and commensurate commissioning since 2014. Average annual Budget allocation for infrastructure and safety works, falling fully / partly in State of Jharkhand during 2014 – 19, has been enhanced to Rs. 2,089 crore per year from Rs. 457 crore per year during 2009 – 14, which is 357% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009 – 14. Budget outlay of Rs. 2,493 crore (446% more than average annual outlay of 2009 – 14) for financial year 2019 – 20 and budget outlay of Rs. 3,221 crore (605% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009 – 14) for financial year 2020 – 21 has been provided for these projects. For financial year 2021 – 22, highest – ever budget outlay of Rs. 4,182crore (Original Budget Estimate (BE) Rs. 4079 crore and Additional outlay Rs. 103 crore) has been provided for these works, which is 815% more with respect to average annual budget outlay of 2009 – 14.

During 2014 – 21, 863 Km section (433 Km New Lines and 430 Km Doubling) falling fully / partly in the State of Jharkhand has been commissioned at an average rate of 123.29 Km/ year, which is 115% more than the commissioning during 2009 – 14 (57.4 Km/year).

Completion of any Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forestry clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions, etc. All these factors vary from site to site and project to project and affect the completion time and cost of the project/s. Nevertheless, Railways are making all efforts to complete these projects at the earliest.

(b): Tori to Lohardaga is an existing railway line. Survey for Lohardaga – Korba (326 Km) new line was completed in 2010 – 11. The project could not be taken forward being financially unviable. Due to persistent demand, survey has been again sanctioned from Lohardaga to Korba via Gumla and survey has been taken up.

Expenditure on the project is done only after sanction of the project. Presently, Lohardaga to Korba via Gumla is not a sanctioned project.

(c): Ministry of Railways is implementing Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) (1875 Km), which starts from Ludhiana in Punjab and terminates at Dankuni in West Bengal. Sonnagar – Gomoh – Dankuni section of the Eastern DFC has been planned for implementation through PPP mode and the PPP model is in advanced stages of finalization. The alignment of Eastern DFC over Sonnagar – Gomoh – Dankuni portion mainly passes through the State of Jharkhand.

DFC has been designed for running of heavier trains of 25 tone axle load. Maximum moving dimensions on DFC will be more liberal and comparable to world standards in order to permit heavier and longer trains. DFC will have a trailing load of 13,000 metric tons per train.

Completion of Eastern DFC project will facilitate faster evacuation of coal and other minerals from the State of Jharkhand.