(a) whether the proposal for the construction of Dehri-Banjari railway line and Bhabua, Mundeshwari, Aurangabad, Bihta railway line under Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya division of East Central Railways is under consideration of the Government;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the current status thereof; and
(c) the time by which it is likely to be finalized and the reasons for delay, if any?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2486 BY SHRI MAHABALI SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 16.03.2022 REGARDING CONSTRUCTION OF DEHRI-BANJARI RAILWAY LINE
(a) to (c): Yes, Sir. Dehri-On-Sone-Banjari, Ara-Bhabhua Road-Mundeshwari Dham and Bihata-Aurangabad railway line are sanctioned projects. Status of these projects is as under:-
(i) Dehri-On-Sone-Banjari (35 Km) New Line Project:- This project was sanctioned in the year 2008-09. Anticipated cost of the project is ?1003 crore. Final Location Survey (FLS) for this project has been completed. Land acquisition process for the project has been taken up.
(ii) Ara-Bhabhua Road-Mundeshwari Dham New Rail Line Project:- Ara-Bhabua Road 125 Km long new rail line project and Material Modifiaction of Bhabhua Road-Mundeshwari Dham (26 Km) new line was sanctioned in the year 2008-09. Anticipated cost of project is ?2397 crore. Final Location Survey (FLS) has been taken up.
(iii) Bihta-Aurangabad (120 Km) new railway line: Bihta-Aurangabad new line project was included in Budget 2007-08. Detailed Estimate and Survey Report of the work has been prepared. As per survey report, the project has been found to be financially unviable and not much of freight traffic has been anticipated to move on this line, as such the project has not been prioritized, presently.
Completion of any Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forestry clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of State share by the State Government in cost sharing projects, 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 affect the completion time of the project/s. As such, no firm time-line for completion of the project/s can be given at this stage. Nevertheless, Railways are making all efforts to complete these projects at the earliest.
Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects. Average Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects & 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 allocation during 2009-14. These allocations have been increased to ?4,093 crore in Financial Year 2019-20 (262% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ?4,489 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (297% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14). For Financial Year 2021-22, highest ever budget outlay of ?5,560 crore {Original Budget Outlay (BE) ?5150 crore and additional allotment ?410 crore} has been provided for these projects, which is 391% more than the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14 (?1,132 crore per year).
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 per year, which is 117% more than the commissioning during 2009-14 (63.6 Km per year).
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