(a) the present status of Aurangabad-Bihta rail line;
(b) whether only Rs. 25 crore have been allocated for the said project in the interim budget whereas its estimated cost is Rs. 3500 crore and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the time by which the said project is likely to be completed; and
(d) the effective steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2850 BY SHRI MAHABALI SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.7.2019 REGARDING AURANGABAD-BIHTA RAIL LINE.
(a) to (d): Bihta-Aurangabad new line project was sanctioned in 2007-08 at an abstract cost of ?326.20 crore. Part detailed estimate of ?64.59 crore for land acquisition on Bihta-Paliganj (28 Km) was sanctioned on 30.10.2007. Subsequently, while examining the revised Detailed Estimate of the project amounting to ?2995 Cr., it was decided to keep the execution of Bihta-Aurangabad new line project on hold in view of available routes in adjoining areas and low capacity utilization of existing parallel route i.e. Ara-Sasaram new line and Patna-Gaya doubling. ?25 Cr. has been allotted for the said project in the interim budget 2019-20.
As the execution of work depends upon viability of the project, therefore, an updating survey has been taken up to see its viability in view of upcoming industrial, educational institutions and new airport in the vicinity of this project.
The timely completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities (both underground & over ground), statutory clearances from various authorities, geological & topographical conditions of area, law & order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic considerations, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, excessive rains, strikes of labour, orders of Hon’ble Courts, situation and conditions of working agencies/contractors etc. and all these factors affects the completion cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage.
In the overall interest of the nation and to ensure that projects are completed in time without cost overrun, lot of monitoring is done in Railways at various levels (field level, Divisional level, Zonal level and Board level) and regular meetings are held with the officials of State Government and concerned authorities to resolve the pending issues that are obstructing the progress of projects.
To ensure that projects are completed even before time, Railway has adopted the concept of incentives to the contractor in the form of bonus clause in contracts which will further enhance the pace of execution of projects.
For important projects, capacity enhancement projects, last mile connectivity etc. institutional financing has been done by arranging loan of ?1.5 lakh crore, which has increased Railways’ capacity for committed fund provision for essential projects.
Since complete encumbrance free land has still not been handed over by State Government to the Railways, therefore, no confirmed time frame can be fixed for completion of projects at this stage.
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