Question : Rail connectivity with mining Districts

(a) whether the Railways is mapping the mining districts across the country to connect them with rail network in a bid to bite into a bigger slice of the freight transportation pie;

(b) if so, the details of the plan prepared therefor, State-wise, particularly in Maharashtra;

(c) the details of the survey approved so far by the Union Government in this regard;

(d) the details of the products which Railways intends to transport at competitive pricing;

(e) the source of funding of these lines; and


(f) the steps taken by the Government to complete these lines without delay?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4499 BY SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT AND DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 30.03.2022 REGARDING RAIL CONNECTIVITY WITH MINING DISTRICTS

(a) to (c) Providing Rail connectivity to mining areas/clusters and conducting surveys are ongoing process in Indian Railways. Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not district wise as projects may span across various State boundaries. As on 01.04.2021, across Indian Railways, 187 New line projects of 21,037 Km length are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution, out of which commissioning of 2,621 Km length has been achieved. Presently, 165 numbers of surveys of new lines have been taken up across the country. The construction of new lines will enhance connectivity to mining areas also. Moreover, Indian Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) which aims to create capacities ahead of demand to meet not only the periodical demand but also annual growth in traffic. Indian Railways has also undertaken the construction of Dedicated Freight Corridors to enhance the capacities for higher freight transportation including minerals. Many of the above projects will cater to mineral movement from and to the State of Maharashtra.
(d) Railways is already transporting a large number of commodities on competitive pricing such as coal, iron ore, lime stone, cement, fertilizers, food, steel, automobiles, general cargo, petroleum products etc.
(e) Major source of funding of railway projects are Gross Budgetary Resources, Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) such as those from Institutional Financing, Public Private Partnership (PPP), Joint Venture (JV), Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) etc.
(f) Various steps are being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects such as (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.

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