LOK SABHA
NEW RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR
2714. DR. SANJAY JAISWAL
SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) the present status of various ongoing/pending railway projects in Bihar;
(b) the steps taken by the Railways to complete the said projects in a time bound manner;
(c) whether the Government of Bihar has proposed to bear some cost of the said projects for their timely completion and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Railways thereto;
(d) the number of railway projects in Bihar for which survey has been conducted and approved but for which work is not underway as yet;
(e) if so, the details thereof;
(f) the efforts made by the Government to speed up the work of approved railway projects in Bihar;
(g) whether any timeline has been fixed for completion of these projects; and
(h) if so, the details thereof?
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (h): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (h) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2714 BY DR. SANJAY JAISWAL AND SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 04.08.2021 REGARDING ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR
(a), (d) and (e): Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise as Indian Railways’ network spans across various State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2021, 57 projects (35 new lines, 05 gauge conversions and 17 doublings), of total length of 5267 Km costing ₹ 76,137 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are in different stages of planning/approval/execution, out of which 1348 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 25,380 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021. These include:
35 new lines projects covering a total length of 2,962 km, costing ₹ 53,773 crore, out of which, 497 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 15,710 crore has been incurred upto March’21.
5 gauge conversion projects covering a total length of 1,018 km, costing ₹ 6,188 crore, out of which, 780 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹ 4,516 crore has been incurred upto March’21.
17 doubling projects covering a total length of 1,287 km, costing ₹ 16176 crore, out of which, 71 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹5,154 crore has been incurred upto March’21.
Average annual Budget allocation for infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in State of Bihar during 2014-19, has been enhanced to
₹3,061 crore per year from ₹1,132 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 170% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14 and budget outlay of ₹4,489 crore was provided for these projects for financial year 2020-21 which is 297% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14. For financial year 2021-22, highest-ever budget outlay of ₹ 5,150 crore has been provided for these works, which is 355% more with respect to average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.
During 2014-21, 968 Km length (317 Km New Lines, 345 Km Gauge Conversion and 306 Km Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar has been commissioned at an average rate of 138.29 Km/year, which is 117% more than the commissioning during 2009-14 (63.6 Km/year).
State of Bihar is covered by East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North Eastern Railway (NER) and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zone of Indian Railways. The project-wise details 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).
(c): Government of Bihar has not proposed to bear cost of any ongoing railway project
(b) and (f): Railways have taken up various steps for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects which include (i) prioritisation of projects,
(ii) substantial increase in allocation of funds, (iii) delegation of powers at field level, (iv) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels (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.
(g) and (h): 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 project to project and affect the completion time of the project/s. As such, no confirmed timeline of completion of the project/s can be ascertained at this stage. Nevertheless, Railways are making all efforts to complete these projects at the earliest.