Question : New Railway lines in Chhattisgarh

(a) the details of places where new railway line network has been laid during the last three years in Chhattisgarh and the schemes through which this has been done;
(b) whether any scheme is being implemented by the Government to connect deprived areas with rail network and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether any proposal has been received/ proposed from State Government of Chhattisgarh for construction of new railway line from Bagbahara (Mahasamund) to Bargarh via Pithora-Basna-Saraipali-Sohela, Raigarh and Jashpur areas and if so, the details thereof;
(d) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(e) whether the Government has considered on any scheme to connect the tourist and religious centers of Chhattisgarh via rail routes and if so, the details thereof?

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.2602 BY SHRIMATI GOMATI SAI AND SHRI CHUNNI LAL SAHU TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.03.2021 REGARDING NEW RAILWAY LINES IN CHHATTISGARH

(a) Indian Railway projects are sanctioned/taken up Zonal Railway wise and not State wise/Region wise, as Indian Railways’ network span across various State boundaries. However, during last three years and current year i.e. 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 (upto February 2021), 440 km of Railway Projects’ length ( 85 km New Line and 355 km doubling) falling fully/partly in Chhattisgarh have been commissioned.

(b) and (e) New Line Projects are considered on the basis of demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives and Railways’ own requirements. They 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 liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands. This covers connectivity to backward and rural areas also.
As on 01.04.2020, 8 new rail line projects of total length 1358 km costing ?25,960 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Chhattisgarh including deprived area are in different stage of planning/sanction/execution, out of this 84 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ?3,524 crore has been incurred upto March 2020. These projects in Chhattisgarh will improve connectivity to deprived areas including tourist and religious places falling en-route.

(c) and (d) Proposals/demands from State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament and other public representatives are received at various levels/forums including divisional/zonal/Railway Board level. As such no central compendium of proposals is maintained.
Mahasamund and Bargarh stations are already connected via Titlagarh. However, survey for new line from Mahasamund to Bargarh via Pithaura, Saraipalli (180.12 km) was completed in 2016-17. In view of no projected additional traffic, the project was found to be financially unviable and could not be taken forward.
Feasibility study of Nuapada-Bargarh rail line connecting Mahasamund-Titlagarh line to Bargarh has been taken up by Odisha Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (ORIDL), Joint Venture company of Government of Odisha.
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