Ongoing Railway Projects in Maharashtra

Ongoing Railway Projects in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYASABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1588

ANSWERED ON 10.12.2021

ONGOING / PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN MAHARASHTRA

1588. DR. FAUZIA KHAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) The present status of various ongoing / pending railway projects in Maharashtra including the Marathwada region of the State:
(b) The steps taken by the Railways to complete the said projects in a time-bound manner;
(c) Whether Government of Maharashtra has proposed to bear some cost of the said projects for their timely completion and if so, the details thereof and the response of Railways thereto; and
(d) The number of railway projects in Maharashtra for which survey has been conducted and approved but work is not underway as yet, the details thereof?

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

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

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1588 BY DR. FAUZIA KHAN ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 10.12.2021 REGARDING ONGOING / PENDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN MAHARASHTRA

(a) to (d): Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise or region-wise as Indian Railway’s projects may span across various State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2021, 35 projects (16 New Line, 2 Gauge Conversion and 17 Doubling) costing Rs.91,137 crore for 6,142 km length falling fully / partly in Maharashtra including Marathwada region are under different stages of planning / approval / execution, out of which 906 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.18,008 crore incurred upto March, 2021. These include-

16 New Line projects covering a length of 2,017 km at a cost of Rs.49,221 crore, out of which 62 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.4,563 crore incurred upto March, 2021.

2 Gauge Conversion projects covering a length of 580 km at a cost of Rs.6,261 crore, out of which 277 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.2,261 crore incurred upto March, 2021.

17 Doubling / Multitracking Projects covering a length of 3,545 km at a cost of Rs.35,655 crore, out of which 567 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.11,184 crore incurred upto March, 2021.

New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling projects falling fully / partly in Maharashtra are covered in Central Railway (CR), South Central Railway (SCR), South East Central Railway (SECR), South Western Railway (SWR) and Western Railway (WR) Zones of Indian Railways. Zone-wise details of ongoing Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made 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) >Rail Budget / Pink Book (Year)> Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

Four New Line projects i.e. Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli Vaijnath (261 km), Wardha-Nanded via Yavatmal-Pusad (284 km), Wadsa-Gadchiroli (52 km) and Solapur-Osmanabad via Tuljapur (84 km) have been taken up on cost sharing basis with Government of Maharashtra.

Since 2014 there is substantial increase in Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and Safety works. Average Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully / partly in State of Maharashtra, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to Rs.4,801 crore per year from Rs.1,171 crore per year during 2009-14.Thus, the average budget allocation during 2014-19 is 310% more as compared to average annual allocation during 2009-14 ( Rs.1171 crore / year).

Total allocation of Budget for Infrastructure projects and safety works falling fully / partly in State of Maharashtra, in 2021-22 is Rs.8,547 crore {original Budget outlay (BE) Rs. 7,277 crore and additional outlay Rs. 1,270 crore}which is 630% more than the average annual outlay of 2009-14 ( Rs.1171 crore / year).

During 2014-21, 916 km sections (87 km of New Line, 136 km of Gauge Conversion and 693 km of Doubling) falling fully / partly in State of Maharashtra have been commissioned at an average rate of 130.86 km per year, which is 124% more than average annual commissioning during 2009-14 (58.4 km / year).

The completion of any Railway project / s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, priority of project / s, 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 considerations etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the project / s. Nevertheless, every effort is being made to execute the project / s expeditiously.

Various steps being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i) prioritisation of projects (ii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iii) delegation of powers at field level (iv) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels, and (v) 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.