New Delhi , Dec 7 : Railway projects are sanctioned and taken up Zonal Railway- wise and not State-wise/ District- wise/ Union Territory-wise, as Indian Railways’ projects may span across State/ Union Territory boundaries.
Further, State Capitals of Assam (Guwahati), Tripura (Agartala) and Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar) have been connected with Broad Gauge (BG) Rail network of Indian Railways. In Arunachal Pradesh, a BG railway line has been commissioned upto Naharlagun, which is a suburban city of Itanagar (distance between Itanagar-Naharlagun is 10 km).
For capital connectivity of remaining 5 States of North Eastern Region – Meghalaya (Shillong), Manipur (Imphal), Nagaland (Kohima), Mizoram (Aizawl) and Sikkim (Gangtok), Railway has taken up New Line projects .
New Line and Doubling projects falling fully/ partly in North Eastern Region are covered in Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zone of Indian Railways. Zone-wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railways website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in & Ministry of Railways Railway Board,Railway Board Directorates ;Finance (Budget) ;Rail Budget/Pink Book (Year); Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.
During 2014-22, 1544 km (377 km New line, 972 km Gauge conversion and 195 km Doubling) sections, falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region, have been commissioned at an average rate of 193 km per year, which is 190% more than average annual commissioning achieved during 2009-14 (66.6 km per year) (upto 31.10.2022)
Various steps being taken by the Railways for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects which include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti Directorate in Ministry of Railways and Gati Shakti Units in Divisions (ii) prioritization of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close monitoring of progress of projects at various levels, and (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects.
Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in budget allotment for infrastructure projects.
Average annual Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in the North Eastern Region, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ₹ 5,531 crore per year from ₹ 2,122 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 161% more than average annual Budget allocation during 2009-14.
These allocations have been increased to ₹ 4,909 crore in Financial Year 2019-20 (131% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 4,669 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (120% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ₹ 7,542 crore in Financial Year 2021-22 (255% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14). For Financial Year 2022-23, highest ever budget allocation of ₹ 9,970 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 370% more than the average annual Budget allocation of 2009-14 (₹ 2,122 crore per year).
Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions etc. and all these factors affect the completion time of the project/s. With above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project/s expeditiously.
This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
