(a) whether the Government proposes to expedite the construction of railway network in strategically important north-eastern frontier hilly regions;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of proposed or ongoing projects in hilly regions of bordering states in north-east including Ladakh and Uttarakhand;
(d) the time by which the above projects are likely to be completed; and
(e) the State-wise details of the funds allocated for the purpose during the last five years?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 295 BY SHRIMATI MALA RAJYA LAXMI SHAH AND SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.02.2021 REGARDING ONGOING PROJECTS IN HILLY REGIONS
(a) to (c): Railway Projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway-wise not Region-wise / State-wise as Indian Railways’ network spans across various State boundaries. Railway projects are sanctioned / 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 and overall availability of funds.
However, as on 01.04.2020, 19 projects (13 New Lines and 6 Doubling) costing ` 75,795 crore for 2,008 km length falling fully / partly in Assam and North Eastern Region are under different stage of planning/ approval/ execution. These include:
(i) 13 New line projects of total length 1178 km costing ` 57,774 crore, out of which 253 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 20,157 crore have been incurred upto March, 2020.
(ii) 06 Doubling Projects of total length 830 km, costing ` 18,021 crore, out of which 9 km doubling has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 1861 crore has been incurred upto March, 2020.
Indian Railways is focusing on expediting the Railway infrastructure in north-eastern frontier hilly region.
04 Railway Projects (03 New lines and 01 Doubling) of total length 23 km costing ` 18,901 crore falling fully / partly in the State of Uttarakhand are under different stage of planning/ approval/ execution. These include:
(i) 03 New line projects of total length 216 km costing ` 18,554 crore, out of which 6 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 2,275 crore has been incurred upto March, 2020.
(ii) 01 Doubling project of 27 km length costing ` 347 crore has been commissioned recently in January, 2021.
Presently, there is no ongoing Railway project falling fully / partly in Ladakh.
(d): 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 considerations etc. All these factors vary from project to project and site to site which affect the completion time and cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage. As such, confirmed completion time of projects cannot be ascertained at this stage; nevertheless, every effort is being made to commission the projects expeditiously.
(e): Funds are not allocated State-wise. However, Zone-wise detail of projects including their cost, expenditure and Budget outlays 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) >Railway wise Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.
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