Parliament Question: Minimal Environmental Impact and Railway Project

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4213 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026 MINIMAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND RAILWAY PROJECT 4213. SHRI ARUN BHARTI: SHRI MUKESHKUMAR CHANDRAKAANT DALAL: SHRI RAJESH VERMA: SMT. SHAMBHAVI: DR. LATA WANKHEDE: SHRI ATUL GARG: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the railway infrastructure project for which approval has been sought from the Central Government including the scope of track expansion, conversion or new line construction and its expected benefits for connectivity, freight and passenger services particularly in Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh; (b) the number of trees and extent of forest land likely to be affected by the project and the current status of statutory clearances under the Forest (Conservation) Act and other environmental regulations; (c) the details of measures proposed to minimise environmental impact including compensatory afforestation, biodiversity protection and other mitigation strategies; (d) the details of institutional mechanisms in place for monitoring environmental compliance during the project’s execution; and (e) the details of assessments conducted regarding the ecological, social and operational impact of the project including alternative alignments or methods to reduce forest loss? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Capacity enhancement of railway network has been taken up by Indian Railways in a big way during last 11 years. The details of ..P/2 §-:2:- commissioning/laying of new track across Indian Railways is given below:- New track Period Average commissioning of new tracks Commissioned 2009-14 7,599 Km 4.2 Km/day 2014-25 34,428 Km 8.6 Km/day (more than 2 times) The status of projects situated in Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are as under: Bihar Railway Budget: Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 1,132 Cr./year 2025-26 10,066 Cr. (Nearly 9 times) Track construction: The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under:- New Track Average Commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 2009-14 318 Km 63.6 Km/year 2014-25 1,899 Km 172.6 Km/year (More than 2.5 times) ..P/3-:3:- Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 52 projects (31 New Lines, 01 Gauge Conversions and 20 Doubling), of a total length of 4,663 km, costing ₹86,107 crore, falling fully/partly in Bihar, are sanctioned, out of which 1,014 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of 29,353 crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summary is as under:- Length Total Exp No of Total Length Commissioned upto Category sanctioned NL/GC/DL till Mar'25 Mar'25 Projects (in Km) (in Km) ( in Crore) New Lines 31 2,691 516 16,814 Gauge 1 69 52 544 Conversion Doubling/Multi- 20 1,904 446 11,995 tracking Total 52 4,663 1,014 29,353 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 Bihar are as under:- SN. Project Cost ( in Crore) 1 Patna rail cum road Bridge (28 Km) 3,210 2 Munger rail cum road Bridge (15 km) 3,040 3 Kosi Bridge (22 km) 863 4 Daniawan-Biharsharif New Line (38 km) 354 5 Chandan-Banka New Line (40 km) 496 ..P/4-:4:- 6 Rampurhat-Mandarhill New Line (130 km) 908 7 Maharajganj-Masrakh New Line (35 km) 412 8 Rajgir-Tilaiya & Natesar-lslampur New Line (67 726 km) 9 Mansi-Saharsa-Purnia Gauge Conversion (141 km) 752 10 Jaynagar-Narkatiaganj Gauge Conversion (260 km) 967 11 Kaptanganj-Chhapra Gauge Conversion ( 234 km) 819 12 Sakri-Nirmali & Saharasa-Forbesganj Gauge 2,113 Conversion (206 km) 13 Mansi-Saharsa, Saharsa-Purnia & Banmakhi- 752 Bihariganj Gauge Conversion (169 km) 14 Sahibganj-Pirpainti Doubling (23 km) 129 15 Maheshkunt-Thanabihpur Doubling (32 km) 115 16 Hajipur-Ramdayalu Nagar Doubling (48 km) 367 17 Pirpainti-Bhagalpur Doubling (51 km) 493 18 Bakhtiyarpur-Barh Doubling (19 km) 237 19 Kiul-Gaya Doubling (124 km) 2,462 20 Hajipur-Bachwara Doubling (72 km) 930 21 Darbhanga bypass (9 km) 253 22 Araria-Galgalia (Thakurganj) New Line (110 km) 2,132 23 Saraigarh Byepass Line (5 km) 79 24 Chhapra-Chhapra Kacheri 3rd Line (3 km) 33 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar which have been taken up are as under: ..P/5-:5:- SN. Project Cost ( in Crore) 1 Sakri-Hasanpur new line (76 km) 735 2 Khagaria-Kusheshwarsthan New line (42 km) 1,511 3 Fatuha-lslampur new line (167 km) 2,882 4 Koderma-Tilaiya new line (65 km) 1,980 5 Hajipur-Sagauli new line (151 km) 2,702 6 Araria-Supaul new line (96 km) 1,925 7 Kursela-Bihariganj new line (58 km) 194 8 Bikramshila-Katareah new line (26 km) 2,171 9 Jhajha-Batia new line (20 km) 588 10 Pirpainti-Jassidih new line (97 km) 2,611 11 Chhitauni-Tumkuhi Road new line (59 km) 1,731 12 Jalalgarh-Kishanganj new line (51 km) 360 13 Jogbani-Biratnagar (Nepal) new line (19 km) 402 14 Darbhanga-Kusheshwarasthan new line (70 km) 367 15 Motihari-Sitamarhi new line (77 km) 1,007 16 Sitamarhi-Nirmali new line (189 km) 2,833 17 Nawada-Laxmipur new line (137 km) 3,121 18 Ara-Bhabua Road new line (150 km) 2,397 19 Gaya-Daltonganj new line (137 km) 2,861 20 Muzaffarpur-Darbhanga new line (69 km) 282 21 Muzaffarpur-Janakpur Road new line (67 km) 228 22 Dehri on Sone-Banjari new line (35 km) 111 23 Chhapra-Muzzafarpur new line (78 km) 1,894 ..P/6-:6:- SN. Project Cost ( in Crore) 24 Bihta-Aurangabad new line (120 km) 2,995 25 Gaya-Chatra and Gaya-Natesar new line (135 km) 4,543 26 Deogarh-Sultanganj new line incl.Banka-Barahat and 665 Banka-Bhitiah Road (154 km) 27 Sultanganj-Katuria new line (77 km) 291 28 Bariarpur-Mananpur new line (68 km) 251 29 Hathua-Bhatni new line (80 km) 318 30 Aurangabad Terminal-Anugrah Narayan Road new line 441 (13 km) 31 Nawadah-Pawapuri New line (25 km) 492 32 Jaynagar-Bijalpura Gauge conversion (69 km) 790 33 Dhanbad-Sonnagar 3rd line (291 km) 7,906 34 Samastipur-Darbhanga Doubling (38 km) 826 35 Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendra Pul-Additional bridge and 2,535 Doubling (14 km) 36 Sagauli-Valmikinagar Doubling (110 km) 1,456 37 Gaya Bye pass for Manpur (2 km) 30 38 Muzaffarpur-Sugauli Doubling (101 km) 1,586 39 Barauni-Bachwara 3rd & 4th line (32 km) 486 40 Sonenagar bye pass (Chiralapothu to Bagha 224 Bishunpur) (10 km) 41 Narkatiaganj-Darbhanga & Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur 4,080 Doubling (256 km) 42 Chhapra-Ballia Patch Doubling (65 km) 1,046 43 Gorakhpur-Valmikinagar Doubling (96 km) 1,121 ..P/7-:7:- SN. Project Cost ( in Crore) 44 Katihar-Kumedpur and Katihar-Mukuria Doubling (65 943 km) 45 Bhadaura Station and Karma Station Surface Triangle 200 Line (11 km) 46 ROR at Sasaram connecting GC to Ara-Sasaram Line (9 470 km) 47 Ara Bye pass Line to be connected from Jagjivan Halt 119 to existing ARA-Sasaram line through link cabin (Y- Connectivity at Ara) (3 km) 48 Son Nagar-Andal Multitracking (749 km) 12,334 49 Bulb line at Nabinagar (Ankorha) (17 km) 612 50 Punarakh- Barh-Bhaktiyarpur New 4th line & balance 422 3rd line (28 km) 51 Sanjaygram to Dhachna By Pass line (2 km) 34 52 Aluabari Road-Thakurganj Doubling (20 km) 327 53 Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th Line (57 km) 1,630 54 Bhagalpur-Jamalpur 3rd Line (53 km) 1,156 55 Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurh at Doubling (177 km) 3,169 56 Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya Doubling (104 km) 2,192 57 Bakthiyarpur-Fatuha 3rd and 4th line (24 km) 931 Gujarat Railway Budget: Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat is as under: ..P/8-:8:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹ 589 crore/year 2025-26 ₹ 17,155 crore (More than 29 times) Track construction: The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under: Period New Track Average Commissioning of new Commissioned tracks 2009-14 660 Km 132 Km/year 2014-25 2,764 Km 251 Km/yr (nearly 2 times) Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 36 Railway projects (6 New Lines, 17 Gauge Conversion and 13 Doubling), of a total length of 2,564 Km, costing ₹30,275 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat have been sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total Expenditure sanctioned length commissioned upto Mar'25 projects (Km) upto Mar'25 (₹ in Crore) (Km) New Lines 6 532 105 5,494 Gauge 17 1,379 718 6,213 Conversion Doubling / 13 653 40 1,158 Multitracking Total 36 2,564 863 12,865 ..P/9-:9:- Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Details of some of the completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat are as under: S.No. Name of Project Cost (₹ in Crore) 1 Mahesana-Taranga Hill Gauge Conversion (210 891 Km) 2 Himmatnagar-Khedbrahma Gauge Conversion 482 (55 Km) 3 Ahmedabad-Botad Gauge Conversion (170 Km) 1,810 4 Dhasa-Jetalsar Gauge Conversion (104 Km) 1,024 5 Ahmedabad-Mahesana Gauge Conversion (69 874 Km) 6 Katosan-Chanasma Gauge Conversion (38 Km) 484 7 Kalol-Kadi-Katosan Gauge Conversion (37 Km) 347 8 Vijapur-Ambliyasan Gauge Conversion (42 Km) 415 9 Dabhoi-Chandod with extension up to Kevadiya 1,018 Gauge Conversion (50 Km) 10 Viramgam-Samakhiali Doubling (182 Km) 1,492 11 Palanpur-Samakhayali Doubling (247 Km) 2,538 12 Mahesana-PalanpurDoubling (65 Km) 537 13 Surendranagar-Rajkot Doubling (116 Km) 1,425 14 Anand-GodharaDoubling (79 Km) 692 15 Vatva-Ahmedabad 3rd Line (8 Km) 61 16 Viramgram-Surendranagar Doubling (65 Km) 382 17 Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km) 2,448 ..P/10-:10:- Details of some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat which have been taken up are as under: S. No. Project Cost (₹ in Crore) 1 Naliya-Jakhau Port New Line (25 Km) 410 2 Miyagam Karjan-Choranda-Malsar Gauge Conversion 450 (37 Km) 3 Jambusar-Kavi Gauge Conversion (26 Km) 318 4 Kosamba-Umarpada Gauge Conversion (70 Km) 468 5 Khijadiya-Amreli Gauge Conversion (17 Km) 178 6 Barejadi-Nandej (Geratpur)- Sanand 4th Line (38 Km) 962 7 Samakhiali-Gandhidham Quadrupling (53 Km) 1,430 8 Vishvamitri-Dabhoi Doubling (33 Km) 394 9 Taranga Hill- Ambaji-Abu Road New Line (116 Km) 2,798 10 Sabarmati D Cabin- Sarkhej Doubling (21 Km) 323 11 Deshalpar-Hajipir-Luna and Vayor-Lakhpat New Line 2526 (145 Km) 12 Vadodara-Ratlam 3rd & 4th Line (259 Km) 8,387 13 Rajkot-Kanalus Doubling (111 Km) 1,081 Bullet Train project: The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project (508 km) is the only HSR Project under execution. The Project is passing through the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli with 12 stations planned at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. ..P/11-:11:- Entire land (1,389.5 Ha.) for MAHSR project has been acquired. All Statutory Clearances have been obtained. All 1,651 utilities have been shifted. The delay in land acquisition in the State of Maharashtra has impacted the project till 2021. The land acquisition picked up in 2022 in Maharashtra. The progress of various major items so far is as under: Gujarat (352 KM): Item Progress Foundation 352 kms. Piers 352 kms. Girder Casting 342 kms. Girder Launching 331 kms. Track Bed Construction 152 kms. OHE Masts Erection 121 kms. Maharashtra (156KM): Item Progress Foundation 84 kms. Piers 75 kms. Girder Casting 12 kms. Girder Launching 5 kms. Out of total 12 stations, foundation works has been completed at 8 stations (Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati). In Maharashtra section, foundation work is in progress at 3 stations (Thane, Virar, Boisar) and excavation work at BKC station is near completion and Casting of base slab started. ..P/12-:12:- 17 river bridges have been completed. Work is in advance stage for 4 major river bridges (Narmada, Mahi, Tapti and Sabarmati) in Gujarat & in progress in 4 river bridges in Maharashtra. Work on Depots (Thane, Surat and Sabarmati) is in full swing. Civil works at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) are progressing satisfactorily. Excavation works have achieved about 91% progress, and concreting works are at various stages, with 100% completion of the basement slab at Level-4. The work of the under-sea tunnel (approximately 21 km) has commenced, out of which 4.8 km of tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata in Maharashtra has been completed. To ensure seamless passenger connectivity, the Government has planned multi-modal integration of Bullet Train stations with the existing Mumbai suburban railway network and upcoming metro lines. The integration includes passenger connectivity with Metro Line-2B and Metro Line-3 through convenient pedestrian access at BKC station. Bullet train project is a very complex and technology intensive Project. Exact timelines for the completion of the project can be reasonably ascertained after the completion of all associated works of Civil Structures, Track, Electrical, Signaling & Telecommunication and supply of Trainsets. Madhya Pradesh Railway Budget: Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Madhya Pradesh is as under: ..P/13-:13:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹632 crore/year 2025-26 ₹14,745 crore (More than 23 times) Track construction: The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Madhya Pradesh during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under: New Track Average Commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 2009-14 145 Km 29 Km/year 2014-25 2,651 Km 241 Km/year (More than 8 times) Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 24 Railway projects (08 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversion and 14 Doubling), of total length of 4,740 Km costing ₹89,542 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Madhya Pradesh are sanctioned. The summary is as under: Category No. of Total Length Length Total Exp upto projects (in Km) Commissioned Mar'25 (₹ in Cr) (in Km) New Lines 8 1,914 544 15,069 Gauge 2 809 430 6,766 Conversion Doubling / 14 2,017 1,118 19,566 Multitracking Total 24 4,740 2,093 41,401 ..P/14-:14:- 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 Madhya Pradesh are as under: S.No. Name of Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1. Anuppur-Katni 3rd line (165 Km) 2,311 2. Pendra Road-Anuppur 3rd line (50 Km) 394 3. Khodri-Anuppur Doubling with flyover at Bilaspur (72 792 Km) 4. Bhopal-Bina 3rd line (145 km) 1,075 5. Bina-Kota Doubling (283 km) 2,477 6. Jabalpur-Gondia Gauge Conversion including 2,005 Balaghat-Katangi (300 Km) 7. Chhindwara-Nagpur Gauge Conversion (150 Km) 1,512 8. Chhindwara-Mandla Fort Gauge Conversion (182 Km) 1,268 9. Ghat Pindari-Balkheda Doubling (6 Km) 29 10. Guna-Ruthiyai Doubling (20 Km) 175 11. Jukhei Chord line, Bye Passing the Katni Yard (2 Km) 12 12. Sontalai-Bagratawa Doubling (7 Km) 110 13. Itarsi-Budhni 3rd line (25 Km) 286 14. Teegaon-Chichonda Ghat Section 3rd line (17 Km) 176 15. Barkhera-Bhopal 3rd line (41 km) 473 16. Nagda-Ujjain Doubling of Gambhir Bridge (2 Km) 28 17. Nimach-Chittaurgarh Doubling (56 Km) 560 ..P/15-:15:- S.No. Name of Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 18. Budhni-Barkhera 3rd line (27 Km) 1,703 19. Indore-Dewas-Ujjain Doubling (79 Km) 757 20. Powerkheda-Jujharpur Rail flyover (16 Km) 443 21. Guna- Etawah New Line (348 Km) 683 22. Ramna-Singrauli doubling (160 Km) 2,436 23. Karaila Road- ShaktinagarDoubling(32 Km) 763 24. Malkhedi-Mahadeokhedi Doubling (12 Km) 59 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Madhya Pradesh which have been taken up are as under: S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1. Shahdol-Singhpur 4th Line (6 Km) (passing through 54 Shahdol constituency) 2. Katni- Grade separator / Bypass (35 Km) 2,300 3. Katni- Singrauli Doubling (257 Km) 4,377 4. Lalitpur-Satna, Rewa-Singrauli & Mahoba- 8,914 Khajuraho New Line (541 Km) 5. Ramganjmandi-Bhopal New Line (277 Km) 5,073 6. Indore-Budni New Line (198 Km) 7,474 7. Nimach-Badi Sadri New Line (48 Km) 495 8. Gwalior-Sheopurkalan Gauge Conversion with 2,913 extension to Kota (284 Km) 9. Itarsi- Nagpur 3rd line (280 Km) 2,450 ..P/16-:16:- S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 10. Jhansi-Bina 3rd line (153 Km) 2,002 11. Mathura-Jhansi 3rd line (274 Km) 5,924 12. Jhansi-Kairar-Manikpur&Khirar-Bhimsen Doubling 4,330 (431 Km) 13. Satna-Rewa Doubling (50 Km) 590 14. Ruthiyai Bye Pass line (3 Km) 54 15. Guna Bye Pass line (2 Km) 179 16. Ujjain Fly Over (2 Km) 100 17. Manmad - Indore New Line (360 Km) 18,529 18. Bhusawal-Khandwa 3rd & 4th Line (131 Km) 3,285 19. Dahod-Indore New Line (205 Km) 9,746 20. Nimach-Ratlam Doubling (133 Km) 1,096 21. Chhota Udepur-Dhar New Line (147 Km) 1,794 22. Ratlam-Nagda 3rd and 4th line (41 Km) 964 23. Vadodara-Ratlam 3rd and 4th line (259 Km) 8,387 24. Ratlam-Khandwa Gauge Conversion (299 Km) 7,265 25. Bina-Itarsi 4th Line (237 km) 4,329 26. Itarsi-Nagpur 4th Line (297 Km) 5,010 Uttar Pradesh: Railway Budget: Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹1,109 crore/year 2025-26 ₹19,858 crore (Nearly 18 times) ..P/17-:17:- Track construction: The details of constructing new tracks falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under: New Track Period Average Commissioning of new tracks Commissioned 2009-14 996 Km 199 Km/year 2014-25 5,272 Km 479 Km per year (More than 2 times) Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 49 projects (10 New Line, 02 Gauge Conversion and 37 Doubling) of 3,807 Km length, costing ₹62,360 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No of Total Length Exp Projects Length Commissioned upto Mar'25 (km) (km) ( in Cr.) New Line 10 1,227 340 10,517 Gauge Conversion 02 67 - 281 Doubling/Multitracking 37 2,513 983 19,813 Total 49 3,807 1,323 30,611 Recently completed projects: Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh are as under: Cost S. No. Project ( in Cr.) 1 Etawah-Mainpuri New Line (58 Km) 313 Bahraich-Nanpara-Nepal Ganj Gauge Conversion (56 2 342 Km) ..P/18-:18:- Cost S. No. Project ( in Cr.) 3 Ballia-Ghazipur city Doubling (65 Km) 650 4 Ghazipur city-Tarighat New Line (17 Km) 1,766 5 Gonda-Gorakhpur Loop Gauge Conversion (260 Km) 863 6 Gonda-Bahraich Gauge Conversion (60 Km) 318 7 Barabanki-Akbarpur Doubling (161 Km) 1,700 Kaptanganj-Thawe-Chhapra Gauge Conversion (234 8 819 Km) 9 Pilibhit-Shahjahanpur Gauge Conversion (83 Km) 589 10 Indara-Dohrighat Gauge Conversion (34 Km) 213 11 Lucknow-Pilibhit Gauge Conversion (263 Km) 1,634 12 Bhadoi-Janghai Doubling (31 Km) 168 13 Lahota-Bhadoi Doubling (39 Km) 184 14 Meerut-Muzaffarnagar Doubling (55 Km) 430 15 Phaphamau-Prayagraj Doubling (14 Km) 212 16 Muzaffarnagar–Tapri Doubling (52 Km) 525 17 Utretia-Raibareilly Doubling (66 Km) 662 18 Raibareilly-Amethi Doubling (60 Km) 668 19 Alamnagar-Utretia Doubling (20 Km) 358 20 Bhimsen—Jhansi Doubling (206 Km) 2,620 Domingarh-Gorakhpur-Kusumhi - 3rd Line and 21 508 Gorakhpur-Nakaha Jungle Doubling (21 Km) 22 Malhaur-Daliganj Doubling (13 Km) 183 23 Ruma Chakeri- Chandari 3rd Line (13 Km) 177 Bareilly-Pilibhit-Tanakpur Gauge Conversion (102 24 313 Km) ..P/19-:19:- Cost S. No. Project ( in Cr.) 25 Rosa-Sitapur Cantt-Burhwal Doubling (181 Km) 2,094 26 Jaunpur- Akbarpur (Tanda) Doubling (77 Km) 676 27 Ramna- Renukut-Singrauli Doubling (160 Km) 2,436 28 Janghai- Phaphamau Doubling (47 Km) 414 29 Varanasi-Madhosingh-Prayagraj Doubling (120 Km) 2,018 30 Karaila Road- Shaktinagar Doubling (32 Km) 763 31 Deoband (Muzzafarnagar)-Roorkee (27 Km) 1,289 32 Agra-Etawah New Line(110 Km) 427 33 Phephna-Indara, Mau-Shahganj Doubling (150 Km) 1,778 Ongoing projects: Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh which have been taken up are as under: SN. Project Cost ( in Cr.) 1 Barabanki-Burhwal 3rd Line (27 Km) 426 2 Burhwal- Gonda Kacheri 4th line (56 Km) 796 3 Burhwal-Gonda 3rd Line (62 Km) 1,118 4 Bahraich- Khalilabad New Line (240 Km) 4,940 5 Katra-Ayodhya Dham Doubling (10 Km) 466 6 Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya- Prayagraj 3rd Line (150 Km) 2,649 7 Billi-Chunar Doubling (102 Km) 1,424 8 Chhapra-Ballia Doubling (65 km) 1,046 9 Unchhar-Amethi New Line (66 Km) 1,229 ..P/20-:20:- SN. Project Cost ( in Cr.) 10 Etah-Kasganj New Line ( 29 Km) 389 11 Gorakhpur- Valmikinagar Doubling (96 Km) 1,121 12 Varanasi-Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 3rd and 4th Line (15 2,464 Km) 13 Jhansi-Khairar-Manikpur & Khairar-Bhimsen Doubling 4,330 (431 Km) 14 Sahjanwa-Dohrighat New Line (81 Km) 1,320 15 Kuberpur-Yamuna Bridge 3rd line (10 Km) 170 16 Prayagraj (Iradatganj)-Manikpur 3rd Line (84 km) 1,508 17 Dilkusha-Malhaur 3rd Line (8 km) 164 18 Bypass/Chord line at Ayodhya Cantt. (between Salarpur- 97 Masodha) (6 Km) 19 Didarganj - Shahganj - Bilwai Chord line (6 km) 137 20 Varanasi Shivpur 3rd line (6 Km) 76 21 Jaunpur Jn.- Zafarabad Doubling (6 Km) 177 22 Bhatni - Aurnihar Doubling (117 km) 2,529 23 Mathura-Jhansi 3rd line (274 km) 5,924 24 Agra Fort and Bandikui Doubling (150 km) 988 25 Janghai-Pratapgarh- Amethi Doubling (87 km) 1,197 26 Barabanki-Malhaur - 3rd & 4th Line (33 km) 407 27 Phaphamau-Unchahar Doubling (72 km) 971 28 Aunrihar - Varanasi City 3rd Line (31 Km) 76 Railway Infrastructure projects enable socio-economic development of the region including:  Better connectivity of the region with other parts of the country ..P/21-:21:-  Faster movement of goods and services  Improving logistics efficiency and reduction in transportation cost.  Enhance line capacity  Increase in direct and indirect employment opportunities for the people of the region  Reduced operational bottlenecks  Development of tourism industry and increase in industrial activities in the region. Railways are environment friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, yielding substantially lower CO2 emissions. Reduction in CO2 emissions in transportation by railways as compared to transportation by road is as under (Ref:- NITI Aayog Report titled “Fast Tracking Freight in India, June 2021”): Mode of transportation CO2 emission for transportation of 1 tonne for 1 Km Road 101 gm Rail 11.5 gm (about 89% less) Shifting of one MT of freight from road to rail reduces the carbon emission by about 5.37 Crore Kg. During the period from 2014 to 2025, about 562 MT freight has shifted to railways which corresponds to reduction in carbon emission amounting to 3,018 crore kg. As per the extant policy guidelines, Railway projects are exempted from environmental clearance. However, forestry/wild life clearances are taken from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), wherever the diversion of forest land is involved. ..P/22-:22:- Electric traction is more environment friendly and energy efficient. Accordingly, electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under: Period Route Kilometre Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900 All Railway infrastructure projects requiring diversion of forest land are processed in accordance with the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and approval of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is obtained, wherever required. Further, Indian Railways has instituted several mechanisms to minimize environmental impacts during construction and operation of projects, which inter alia include: Afforestation in coordination with State Forest Departments where forest land is involved, adoption of eco-friendly construction practices, including proper disposal of construction debris, slope stabilization, and protection of natural drainage, provision of wildlife crossings, animal underpasses/overpasses and other mitigation measures in environmentally sensitive areas, wherever required and continuous monitoring of environmental safeguards during project implementation by concerned railway authorities. *****