Tamil Nadu Railway Projects List

Tamil Nadu Railway Projects

Current Railway Projects in Tamilnadu | Pending Railway Projects in Tamilnadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1578

ANSWERED ON 10.12.2021

RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

1578. DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) Whether Government is aware about zone-wise, route-wise and project-wise pending railway projects in Tamil Nadu;
(b) If so, the details thereof;
(c) Whether Government is aware of the reasons behind the pendency of Dharmapuri Morappur railway project; and
(d) If so, the details of completion of this project 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. 1578 BY DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 10.12.2021 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU

(a) & (b): The Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise as the Railway’s projects may span across State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.21, 25 projects (09 new line, 4 Gauge conversion and 12 doubling) costing Rs. 28,307 crore for 3,077 Km length falling fully / partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are under different stages of planning / approval/ execution. These include:-

9 New Line Projects covering a length of 871 km at a cost of Rs. 7,910 crore and an expenditure of Rs. 575 crore has been incurred upto March 2021.

4 Gauge Conversion Project covering a length of 839 km at a cost of Rs. 5,838 crore, out of which 604 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 2,972 crore has been incurred upto March 2021.

12 Doubling Projects covering a length of 1,367 km at a cost of Rs. 14,559 crore, out of which 246 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 3,299 crore has been incurred upto March 2021.

New line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling projects falling fully / partly in Tamil Nadu are covered by South Western Railway (SWR), Southern Railway (SR) and South Central Railway (SCR) zone of Indian Railways. Railway Zone-wise details of 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.

There is substantial increase in budget allocation since 2014.Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully / partly in State of Tamil Nadu, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to Rs. 1,979 crore per year from Rs. 879 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 125% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

For financial year 2019-20 budget allocation of Rs. 2410 crore (174% more than average annual allocation of 2009-14) and for financial year 2021-21, Rs. 2812 crore (220% more than average annual budget allocation of 2009-14) has been provided for these works. For financial year 2021-22, budget outlay of Rs. 3730 crore (original budget outlay Rs. 2,972 crore and additional Rs. 758 crore) has been provided for these works, which is the highest ever budget allocation and 324% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

During 2014-21, 996 km sections (404 km of Gauge Conversion and 592 km of Doubling) falling fully / partly in the State of Tamil Nadu have been commissioned at an average rate 142.29 km per year.

(c) and (d): Morappur- Dharmapuri (36 Km) new line project was included in the Railway Budget for 2016-17 at a cost of Rs. 134 crore. Anticipated cost of the project is Rs. 359 crore. Earlier this line was a Narrow gauge line. After closure of Narrow Gauge line about 78 years back, Railway land was relinquished to State Government in the year 1941 and further State Government has given land to private parties on Patta. Out of total 36 Km length 28 Km new line (from Morappur end) to be laid on the old alignment and balance 8 Km (Dharmapuri end) on new alignment. State Government of Tamil Nadu has been requested for survey and demarcation of land / identification of land for processing land acquisition.

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, priority of project, 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 due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the project. As such, confirmed completion time of project cannot be ascertained at this stage. Nevertheless, every effort is being made to execute the project expeditiously.