Parliament Question: Bhadrachalam-Kovvur Railway Line Project

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 735 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026 BHADRACHALAM-KOVVUR RAILWAY LINE PROJECT

735. SHRI PUTTA MAHESH KUMAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has undertaken any study/survey regarding the Bhadrachalam-Kovvur Railway line during the last five years and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the steps undertaken to expedite completion of the railway line during the last five years;

(c) the details of the total funding allocated/released/utilised for completion of the railway line;

(d) whether the Government has initiated/taken steps for revised estimates for cost of the total project and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the details of the reasons of delay in completion of the project and the steps undertaken by the Government for expedited completion of the same? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e): Bhadrachalam-Kovvur (119 Km) New Line project was sanctioned on 50:50 cost sharing basis with Government of Andhra Pradesh at an anticipated cost of ₹3,796 crore. Out of which, Bhadrachalam-Satupalli (56 Km) new line project has already been completed in May 2022.

Contd…2-2-

ANDHRA PRADESH:

Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly

in the State of Andhra Pradesh is as under:

Period Outlay 2009-2014 ₹886 cr./year (including Telangana) 2025-2026 ₹9,417 cr. (more than 10 times) The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under:

New Track Average Commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 2009-14 363 Km 72.6 Km per year 2014-25 1,582 Km 143.82 Km per year (Nearly 2 times) As on 01.04.2025, 39 projects (12 New Lines and 27 Doubling), covering total length of 4,499 km length, costing ₹70,232 crore, falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh, have been sanctioned, out of which 1,178 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹28,039 crore has been incurred upto March 2025. The status of the work is summarized as:

No. of Total Length Exp upto Category projects Length Commissioned March 2025

(Km) (Km) (₹ in cr.) New Line 12 1595 199 6,413 Doubling 27 2904 979 21,626 /Multitracking TOTAL 39 4,499 1,178 28,039 Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website.

Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in

the State of Andhra Pradesh are as under:

Contd…3-3- S.No. Name of Project Cost (₹. in cr.) 1 Vijaywada – Gudivada – Bhimavaram - Narsapur, 4,688 Gudivada-Machlipatnam & Bhimavaram-Nidadavolu doubling (221 Km) 2 Guntur-Tenali doubling (24 Km) 205 3 Nandyal-Yerraguntla new line (126 Km) 1,050 Jaggayyapeta-Mellacheruvu-Janpahad new line 4 737 (48 Km) 5 Obulavaripalle-Krishnapattnam new line (113 Km) 2,300 6 Vizianagaram-Kottavalsa 3rd Line (35 Km) 285 7 Raichur-Guntakal doubling (81 Km) 388 8 Guntakal-Kalluru doubling (41 Km) 410 9 Yelahanka-Penukonda doubling (123 Km) 1,104 10 Gooty-Dharmavaram doubling (90 Km) 1,800 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh

which have been taken up are as under:

S.N Name of Project Cost (Cr) 1 Kotipalli-Narsapur new line (57 Km) 2,120 2 Nadikude-Srikalahasti new line (309 Km) 3,122 3 Rayadurg-Kalyandurg-Tumkur new line (207 Km) 2,496 4 Marikuppam-Kuppam new line (24 Km) 297 5 Malugur – Palasamudram new line (18 Km) 342 6 Malkangiri- Bhadrachalam - Pandurangapuram new 3,592 line (174 Km) 7 Errupalem-Amravati-Namburu new line (57 Km) 2,047 8 Kottavalasa-Koraput Doubling (189 Km) 2,500 9 Vijaywada- Gudur 3rd line (287 Km) 6,509 10 Guntakal- Guntur Doubling (401 Km) 4,306 11 Pennukonda-Dharmavarm Doubling (42 Km) 308 12 Gooty-Pendekallu Doubling (29 Km) 352 13 Duvvada - Simhachalam North 3rd & 4th line (21 Km) 356 14 Kottavalasa - Vizianagram 4th line (35 Km) 493 15 Gudur-Renigunta 3rd Line (83 Km) 877 16 Nergundi - Barang & Khurda Road - Vizianagaram 3rd 4,963 line (385 Km) Contd…4-4- In last three Years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 65 surveys (15 New Line, 50 Doubling) covering a total length of 6,985 Km have been taken up falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Sanction of any railway project depend upon many parameters/factors

which include the following:  Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project  Connection of missing links and providing additional route  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,  Railway’s operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include

the following:  Land acquisition  Forest clearance  Shifting of infringing utilities  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 etc.

All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s. *****