MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(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.4118 BY DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE AND SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 18.03.2020 REGARDING IMPORTANT PROJECTS
(a) to (f): 498 ongoing Railway Projects including 188 New Lines, 55 Gauge Conversion and 255 Doubling Projects of total length 49,069 Km, costing `6.75 lakh crore are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution.
In addition, under the Umbrella Work of 2019-20, 05 New Line works of 432 Km length costing `6,419 crore and 32 Doubling works of 4,555 Km length costing `47,841 crore have been included in Budget booklet of Financial Year 2020-21.
The project-wise detail 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) >Railway-wise Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.
The important projects can be categorized as New Line National Projects, last mile connectivity projects, executable through put enhancement Gauge Conversion projects and Super Critical/Critical /Doubling/3rd Line/Quadrupling projects etc.
Thorough review of throughput enhancement projects has been carried out and with focused approach, the projects have been prioritized into Super Critical Projects (58 nos), Critical Projects (68 nos.) and other throughput enhancement projects (130 nos.). As on 01.04.2019, the balance length of Super Critical Projects is 2,347 Km, 5,676 Km of Critical Projects. All out sincere and focused approach is being adopted by Railway for quick execution of these projects.
For the financial year 2020-21, Budget Outlay has been proposed to the projects which are in advance stage of completion, important new line National Projects, executable & Important Gauge Conversion projects and the projects which are important from the throughput enhancement considerations. Thus, the focused attention is given in fund allotment, rather than thinly spreading the resources without fruitful results.
In the overall interest of the Nation and to ensure that, projects are completed in time without cost overrun, lot of monitoring is being 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 capacity enhancement projects, institutional financing has been arranged, which has increased Railways’ capacity for committed fund provision for capacity enhancement projects.
BUDGET ALLOCATION ON INDIAN RAILWAYS
Average Annual Budget allotment for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects on Indian Railways, during 2014-19 has increased to `26,026 crore, from `11,527 crore (during 2009-14), which is 126% more as compared to average allotment during 2009-14.
Total Budget Estimate (BE) Outlay for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects in 2019-20 was `30,198, which has been increased to `38,803 in Revised Budget Outlay. This is 237% more as compared to average annual budget allotment during 2009-14. (`11,527)
COMMISSIONING OF NEW LINE, GAUGE CONVERSION AND DOUBLING
During 2009-14, 7599 km length (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) has been commissioned on Indian Railways. Further, during 2014-19, 13124 km length (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) has been commissioned on Indian Railways, which is 73% more than commissioning during 2009-14.
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. All these factors vary from project to project and site to site and affect the completion time and cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage. Hence, confirmed time line for the completion of the projects cannot be ascertained at this stage.
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