MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2887 BY SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE AND DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 11.03.2020 REGARDING RAIL CONNECTIVITY TO TRIBAL AREAS IN MAHARASHTRA
(a) to (c): Railway Projects are taken up on the basis of remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands which covers connectivity in backward and rural areas also. Railway Projects are sanctioned Zone-wise and not State-wise, as Indian Railway’s network is straddled across various State boundaries.
Presently, Indian Railways have taken up 498 Railway projects of 49,069 km length, costing `6.75 lakh crore, which are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution, out of which, commissioning of 8,979 km length has been achieved upto March, 2019.
PROJECTS IN MAHARASHTRA (falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra):
38 Projects costing `73,485 crore for 5,879 km length, falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra are under different stage of planning/approval/execution. This includes:-
• 16 New Line Projects covering a length of 2,043 km at a cost of `38,129 crore. Out of which, 63 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of `3,479 crore has been incurred upto March''19.
• 5 Gauge Conversion Projects covering a length of 1,135 km at a cost of `11,102 crore. Out of which, 500 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of `4324 crore has been incurred upto March''19.
• 17 Doubling Projects covering a length of 2,701 km at a cost of `24,255 crore. Out of which, 234 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of `5,369 crore has been incurred upto March''19.
BUDGET ALLOCATION (for the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra):
• Average Annual Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra during 2014-19 has increased to `4,801 crore per year from `1,171 crore per year during 2009-14. Thus, the average budget allocation during 2014-19 is 310% more as compared to average allocation of 2009-14 (`11,71 crore).
• Total allocation of Budget for Infrastructure projects and safety works falling fully/ partly in State of Maharashtra, in 2019-20 is `7,281 crore, which is 522% more than the average of 2009-14.This is the highest ever allocation made to the state.
COMMISSIONING OF PROJECTS (falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra):
• During 2009-14, 292 km length (111 km New Line, 135 km Gage Conversion and 46 km Doubling) has been commissioned.
• During 2014-19, 596 km length (87 km New Line, 92 km Gage Conversion and 417 km Doubling) has been commissioned, which is 104% more with respect to commissioning achieved during 2009-14.
Out of the ongoing projects falling partly/fully in State of Maharashtra, the work has been taken up on New Line projects namely Wadsa-Gadchiroli and Wardha-Nanded and Doubling projects namely Wardha-Nagpur 3rd line and 4th line, Wardha - Ballarshah 3rd line, Nagpur - Itarsi 3rd line and Nagpur 3rd line and two Gauge Conversion project namely, Nagpur to Nagbir and Ratlam-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola. All these projects will ensure development of the tribal dominated district of Maharashtra State.
Project-wise details of Railway Projects 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).
The 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 and over ground), 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, 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 vary from project to project and site to site. Hence, no confirmed time frame can be fixed for completion of projects at this stage.
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