Parliament Question: Railway Projects in Gujarat

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 249 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2025 RAILWAY PROJECTS IN GUJARAT *249. SHRI PARSHOTTAMBHAI RUPALA: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the ongoing/pending/proposed railway projects in Gujarat; (b) the details of the steps taken not to disturb the residential areas and greenery and ensure that environmental sustainability of Gujarat will not be affected by these projects; (c) the details of the progress of Metro Rail Project in Gujarat along with its future plans; (d) whether there is any plan to launch Metro Rail at Rajkot and if so, the details thereof; and (e) whether the Government proposes to set elevated railway lines for goods traffic and avoid acquisition of farm lands and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 249 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2025 (a) to (e): Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise/UT wise/District wise as the Railway projects may span across State/UT/District boundaries. Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway’s own operational requirement, socio- economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds. Railway infrastructure projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, are covered by Western Railway and North Western Railway zones 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, 36 projects (6 New Lines, 17 Gauge Conversion and 13 Doubling), of a total length of 2564 Km, costing ₹30,275 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, are sanctioned, out of which 863 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹12,865 crore has been incurred upto March 2025. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total sanctioned length commissioned Expenditure upto projects (Km) till Mar'25 (Km) Mar'25 (Cr.) New Lines 6 532 105 5494 Gauge 17 1379 718 6213 Conversion Doubling / 13 653 40 1158 Multitracking TOTAL 36 2564 863 12865 Contd…2-2- Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in the State of Gujarat is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹589 crore/year 2025-26 ₹17,155 crore (More than 29 times) 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 2764 Km 251 Km/yr (Nearly 2 times) Details of some of the recently completed projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, are as under: S.No. Name of Project Latest Cost (Cr.) 1. Bhildi-Viramgam Gauge Conversion (156 Km) 312 2. Dabhoi-Chandod with ext. up to Kevadiya Gauge 1018 Conversion (50 Km) 3. Ahmedabad-Botad Gauge Conversion (170 Km) 1810 4. Dhasa-Jetalsar Gauge Conversion (104 Km) 1024 5. Ahmedabad-Mahesana Gauge Conversion (69 Km) 874 6. Katosan Road-Chanasma Gauge Conversion (38 Km) 484 7. Kalol-Kadi-Katosan Gauge Conversion (37 Km) 347 8. Viramgram-Surendranagar Doubling (65 Km) 382 9. Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km) 2448 10. Guriya-Marwar & Karjoda-Palanpur Doubling (49 Km) 251 11. Abu Road to Sarotra Road Doubling (24 Km) 152 12. Sarotra Road – Karjoda Doubling (24 Km) 220 13. Viramgam-Samakhiali Doubling (182 Km) 1492 14. Palanpur-Samakhiali Doubling (247 Km) 2538 15. Mahesana-Palanpur Doubling (65 Km) 537 16. Surendranagar-Rajkot Doubling (116 Km) 1425 17. Anand-Godhara Doubling (79 Km) 692 18. Vatva-Ahmedabad 3rd line with Automatic Signalling 61 (8 km) Contd…3-3- Some of the main projects, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, which have been taken up, are as under: S. No. Project Cost (Cr.) 1. Naliya-Jakhau Port New Line (25 Km) 410 2. Miyagam-Karjan-Choranda-Malsar Gauge 450 Conversion (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. Gandhidham(GIM)- Adipur(AI) Quadrupling (11 Km) 152 7. Barejadi-Nandej (Geratpur)- Sanand 4th Line 962 (38 Km) 8. Samakhiali and Gandhidham Quadrupling (53 Km) 1430 9. Vishvamitri-Dabhoi including 'Y' connection at 394 Vishvamitri Doubling (33 Km) 10. Luni-Samdari-Bhildi Doubling (272 Km) 3086 11. Sabarmati D Cabin- Sarkhej Doubling (21 Km) 323 Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) also passes through Gujarat. About 565 route Km of Western DFC is situated in Gujarat, which is about 37% of overall route length of Western DFC. Full project length falling in the State of Gujarat has been commissioned. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project (508 Km) is under execution with technical and financial assistance from Government of Japan. Construction works on the flagship high speed bullet train project have gathered momentum in Gujarat. Now, 100% land acquisition has been completed. Construction of viaduct for 352 Km (Foundation & Pier) section of this project falling in the State of Gujarat has been completed. Also, 329 Km Girder Casting and 309 Km Girder Launching have been completed. Contd…4-4- During last 3 years (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25) and current FY, 58 surveys of a total length of 6,321 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, have been sanctioned. Some important surveys are as under: SN Name of project Length (Km) 1 Ratlam – Vadodara 3rd & 4th Line 259 2 Viramgam-Kanalus Quadrupling 293 3 Kanalus-Okha doubling 141 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. The launch of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) has brought transformative approach in planning and execution of infrastructural transportation projects. The NMP, spanning across the entire country has brought in synergy between the infrastructure sectors such as railways, shipping, roadways, telecommunications, pipelines, etc. through collaboration amongst concerned Ministries/State Governments/Departments, thereby bringing in vast improvement in transportation efficiency, supply chain management, enhancing connectivity affecting local economies, speeding up the clearances needed for the project completion as well as planning at a faster pace. Rail transport is inherently more environment friendly due to its lower carbon footprint, energy efficiency and reduced congestion as compared to roads. Not only does rail transport cost less than half of road transport, its carbon dioxide emissions are 90 percent less than road transport. Shifting traffic from road to rail is helping India decarbonize its economy at scale. As compared to 2014 level, 26,782 MT more freight has been shifted from road to rail which has resulted Contd...5-5- in saving 143.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This itself is equivalent to more than 100 crore trees. So far, about 99% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under: Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900 In Gujarat, entire existing Broad Gauge railway network has been electrified. All new line/multitracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification. Urban Transport, an integral part of Urban Development, is a State subject. Respective State Governments/Union Territories (UTs) are responsible for initiating and developing urban transport infrastructure including Metro Rail Projects. The details of the Metro Rail Projects in Gujarat are as under: SN Name of Project Project Operational Cost (Cr.) length (Km) length (Km) 1 Ahmedabad Metro Rail 40 40 10,773 Project Phase I 2 Ahmedabad Metro Rail 28 23 5384 Project Phase II 3 Surat Metro Rail Project 40 - 12,020 Government of Gujarat has conveyed in principle approval to Rajkot Metro Rail Project for a length of 41 Km with total estimated cost of ₹10,427 crore to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Metro project being cost intensive requires extensive appraisal and scrutiny at different levels. Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation Contd...6-6- of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close monitoring of progress of project 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. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014. 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. *****