Parliament Question: Construction of Broad Gauge Line between Theni and Erumeli

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 391 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025 CONSTRUCTION OF BROAD GAUGE LINE BETWEEN THENI AND ERUMELI *391. DR. GANAPATHY RAJKUMAR P:

THIRU THANGA TAMILSELVAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that a tender has been floated for the survey work/site selection study to construct a broad gauge railway line between Theni Erumeli;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the amount of funds allotted; and

(c) the details of the time frame if any, fixed by the Government for commencement /completion of the said project? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 391 TO BE ANSWERED ON

20.08.2025.

(a) to (c): Survey of Theni-Erumeli new line (95 Km) has been sanctioned for preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR).

After firming up of Detailed Project Report (DPR), sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed.

Tamil Nadu Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly.

Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹879 crore/year 2025-26 ₹ 6,626 crore (more than 7.5 times) Railway projects in Tamil Nadu are covered by Southern Railway

(SR), South Central Railway (SCR) and South Western Railway (SWR) zone of Indian Railways. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website.

As on 01.04.2025, 15 projects (9 New Line, 03 Gauge Conversion and 03 Doubling) of total length 1,700 Km, costing ₹22,808 Crore, …2/--2- falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are sanctioned, out of which 665 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹7,591 Crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summary

is as under:- Expenditure Total Length No. of upto March Plan Head Length Commissioned projects 2025 (in Km) (in Km) (₹in Cr.) New Line 9 812 24 1,337 Gauge Conversion 3 748 604 3,471 Doubling 3 140 37 2,783 /Multitracking Total 15 1700 665 7,591 Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in

Tamil Nadu are as under :

S. Cost Project N (₹in Crores) 1 Dindigal Palani Pollachi Gauge Conversion (121 km) 610 2 Pollachi Palghat Gauge Conversion (56 km) 350 3 Pollachi Podhanur Gauge Conversion (40 km) 400 4 Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur Gauge Conversion 1122 (357 km) 5 Mayiladuturai-Thiruvarur-Karaikkudi Gauge 1338 Conversion (187 km) 6 Madurai-Bodiyakannur Gauge Conversion (90 km) 593 7 Chengalpattu Villupuram Doubling (102 km) 670 8 Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km) 83 9 Chennai Central-Basin Bridge Doubling (2 km) 31 10 Thanjavur-Ponmalai - Doubling (48 km) 370 11 Villupuram-Dindigul Doubling (273 km) 2000 12 Chennai Beach-Korukkupet 3rd line (5 km) 168 13 Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km) 293 14 Omalur-Metturdam Patch Doubling (29 km) 327 …3/--3- 15 Chengalpattu-Villupuram and Tambaram- 1122 Chengalpattu - 3rd line (133 km) 16 Salem-Magnesite Junction-Omalur Doubling (11 km) 115 17 Madurai- Maniyachi-Tuticorin Doubling (160 km) 1891 18 Maniyachi-Nagercoil Doubling (102 km) 1752 19 Chennai Beach- Chennai Egmore Doubling (4 km) 272 Details of some ongoing projects falling fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are as

under :

Cost S.N Project (₹in Crores) 1 Tindivanam-Nagari New Line (184 Km) 3631 2 Morappur-Dharmapuri New Line (36 Km) 359 3 Nagapattinam – Tiruturaipundi new line (43 Km) 742 4 Karaikal –Peralam New line (23 Km) 373 5 Trivandrum- Kanyakumari- Doubling (87 Km) 3785 6 3rd & 4th line Arakkonam yard (6 Km) 98 Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition.

Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under:

Total Land required for Projects in 4315 Ha Tamil Nadu Land Acquired 1038 Ha ( 24%) Balance Land to be acquired 3277 Ha ( 76%) Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land

acquisition are as under:- …4/--4- Total Land Balance S land acquired Land to be Name of the project N required (in Ha) acquired (in Ha) (in Ha) Tindivanam–Tiruvannamalai New 1 273 33 240 Line (71 km) Attiputtu – Puttur New Line (88 2 189 0 189 km) 3 Morappur – Dharmapuri (36 km) 93 42 51 4 Mannargudi-Pattukkottai (41 km) 196 0 196 5 Thanjavur-Pattukottai (52 km) 152 0 152 Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu.

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

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