(a) the status of progress of Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Davangere railway line project;
(b) the progress of total length of electrification of railway lines in Karnataka;
(c) the funds incurred/estimated cost for electrification of railway lines in the State;
(d) whether any timeline has been fixed for completion of the electrification work; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4044 BY SHRI A. NARAYANA SWAMY TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 18.03.2020 REGARDING TUMAKURU-CHITRADURGA-DAVANGERE RAILWAY LINE
(a) Tumkur-Chitradurga-Davangere new line project (191 Km) was included in the Budget 2011-12. Project is on cost sharing basis with State Government of Karnataka, in which, State Government of Karnataka is providing land free of cost and sharing 50% of construction cost of the project.
Latest cost of this project is ` 1801.01 crore. An expenditure of ` 40 crore has been incurred on this project upto March, 2019. Budget Estimate (BE) outlay of ` 115 crore has been provided for this project for the year 2019-20.
Land requisition documents to the extent of 2,246 acre were submitted to State Government from June, 2013 to July, 2018. So far, only 135 acre (10 Km track) of land has been handed over in Tumkuru District. Earthwork and Bridge work have been taken up in this section. 2111.07 acre balance land is yet to be handed over by Government of Karnatka. Regular meetings are being held with State Government authority to expedite land acquisition.
Work would be further expedited, only after the required land is handed over to Railway and forestry clearance for forest land is given by the State Government of Karnataka and concerned Authorities.
BUDGET ALLOCATION (FOR THE PROJECT FALLING FULLY/PARTLY IN THE STATE OF KARNATAKA):
Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure & safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Karnataka, during 2014-19 has increased to ` ¬¬¬2,702 crore, from ` 835 crore (during 2009-14). Thus, the average annual budget allocation for 2014-19 is 224% more than average annual Budget allocation during 2009-14.
Total Budget Estimate (BE) outlay for Infrastructure & safety works, falling, fully/partly in the State of Karnataka, in 2019-20 is ` 3,386 crore, which is 306% more than average annual Budget outlay of 2009-14.
COMMISSIONING OF THE NEW LINE/GAUGE CONVERSION/DOUBLING PROJECTS (FALLING FULLY/PARTLY IN THE STATE OF KARNATAKA):
During 2009-14, 565 Km (206 Km New line, 185 Km Gauge conversion and 174 Km Doubling) projects, falling fully/partly in Karnataka have been commissioned at an average rate of 113 Km per year.
During 2014-19, 735 Km (253 Km New line and 482 Km Doubling) projects, falling fully/partly in Karnataka have been commissioned at an average rate of 147 Km per year, which is 30% more commissioning than during 2009-14.
(b) Work on 16 electrification projects of 3,379 Km length, falling fully/partly in State of Karnataka have been taken up.
(c) Funds for Railway Electrification projects are not allocated in terms of State/Union Territories. ` 6960 crore have been allocated during 2019-20 for Railway Electrification projects across Railways. The details of allotments of funds and expenditure project wise 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)> Pink Book (year)> Railway-wise Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.
(d) and (e): 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. Therefore, confirmed time line for completion of project cannot be ascertained at this stage.
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