Parliament Question: Parasnath-Giridih-Madhuban Railway Line

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4507 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025 PARASNATH-GIRIDIH-MADHUBAN RAILWAY LINE

4507. SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the present status of the proposed new railway line from Parasnath to Madhuban via Giridih;

(b) whether land acquisition and forest clearance for the said project have been completed and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the estimated cost and timeline for completion of the project;

(d) whether the Government is aware of the religious significance of the area and the long-standing demand of the Jain community and if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether the Government proposes to double the existing railway line between Koderma, Giridih and Madhupur and if so, the details thereof;

(f) the details of the status of electrification and signaling upgrades on this route;

(g) the details of the average train frequency along with any new express or MEMU services being planned for this line; and

(h) whether any feasibility study or survey has been conducted for doubling and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (h): Parasnath–Giridih–Madhuban New Line Project was sanctioned in 2018–19 on 50:50 cost - sharing basis with the Government of Contd…2/--2- Jharkhand, at an estimated cost of ₹903 crore. The Railways requested the State Government in November 2022 to deposit its share of the cost.

However, the Government of Jharkhand is yet to deposit its share. As a result, the project could not be taken up.

The proposed alignment of the Parasnath–Madhuban–Giridih section falls within Giridih district of Jharkhand. Madhuban is situated at the foothills of Parasnath Hill, which in Jainism is referred to as Shri Sammed Shikhar Teerth, one of the most prominent Jain pilgrimage centres in the country.

Both Parasnath and Giridih are well connected with railway network. To improve rail connectivity of Parasnath, 3rd and 4th line work between Sonnagar-Gaya-Parasnath-Andal (375x2 Km) has been taken up. More than 95% land of Sonnagar-Andal multitracking (375x2 Km) project has been acquired. Execution of the project has been taken up on available land.

Line capacity of the Koderma-Giridih-Madhupur section is sufficient to handle the present traffic requirement.

Koderma-New Giridih-Madhupur sector is presently being served by 03 pairs of train services viz. 14049/14050 Godda-Delhi Express, 13515/13514 Asansol-Hatia Express, 53369/53370 Madhupur-Koderma Passenger to cater to the needs of passengers. Besides, introduction of new trains of train services is an on-going process on Indian railways, subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources, etc.

Contd…3/--3- Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER) and South Eastern Railway (SER) Zones of Indian Railways.

Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain.

Jharkhand Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of

Jharkhand is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹457 Cr./Yr 2025-26 ₹7306 Cr. (approx. 16 times) As on 01.04.2025, 26 projects (9 New Lines and 17 Doubling), of total length of 2363 Km, costing ₹47,729 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand including those which are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 598 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹15,845 crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The

summary is as under:- Category No. oTf otal Length Total Exp. upto projects Length Commissione March, 2025 (in Km) d till March, (Rs. in Cr.) 2025(in Km) New Lines 9 749 156 4239 Doubling/Multi- 17 1614 442 11606 tracking Total 26 2363 598 15845 Contd…4/--4- The details of commissioning/ laying of new track falling fully/partly in the

State of Jharkhand is as under:- Period New Track Commissioned Average Commissioning of new tracks 2009-14 287 Km 57.4 Km 2014-25 1316 Km 119.64 Km (More than 2 times) During last three years (i.e. 2022-2023, 2023-24, 2024-2025 and current Financial Year i.e. 2025-26), total 83 Nos. of Surveys (17 New Line, 66 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand having a total length of 3274 Km have been sanctioned.

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 own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include

the following:  Land acquisition by State Government  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. *****