Parliament Question: Timely Completion of Railway Projects

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2816 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025 TIMELY COMPLETION OF RAILWAY PROJECTS 2816. SMT. MALA ROY: DR. RAJ KUMAR CHABBEWAL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that a large number of railway projects have been badly delayed beyond their stipulated date of completion in the country; (b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise particularly in the State of Punjab; (c) whether the Government proposes to take any measures to ensure the timely completion of these railway projects and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and (d) the details of the number of railway projects which were announced in the Rail Budget during the period from 2009-11 and remained incomplete, State-wise and the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): As on 01.04.2025, across Indian Railways, 431 Railway Contd…2-2- infrastructure projects (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling) of total length 35,966 Km, costing approx. 6.75 lakh crore are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Total Length Total Exp upto No of Length Commissioned Category Mar’25 Projects NL/GC/DL till Mar’25 ( in Cr) (km) (Km) New Lines 154 16,142 3,036 1,45,318 Gauge 33 4,180 2,997 22,753 Conversion Doubling / 244 15,644 6,736 1,22,858 Multitracking Total 431 35,966 12,769 2,90,929 Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. The details of 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 8.57 Km/day (more than 2 times) Punjab Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab has increased substantially. The details are as under: Contd…3-3- Period Outlay 2009-14 225 crore/year 2025-26 5,421 Cr. (More than 24 times) As on 01.04.2025, 09 projects (04 new line and 05 doubling) of total length 714 Km, costing 21,926 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Total Expenditure No. of Length Category Length upto March 2025 projects Commissioned ( in Crore) New line 04 252 Km 64 Km 7359 Doubling 05 462 Km 51 Km 720 /multitracking Total 09 714 Km 115 Km 8,079 Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab are as under: S. Cost Project No. ( in Cr.) Chakki Bank-Bharoli Doubling (3 Km) 15 1 2 Jakhal- Mansa Doubling (45 Km) 163 3 Mirthal-Bhangala Beas River Doubling (2.5 Km) 74 4 Ambala-Dhapper-chandigarh Doubling (45 Km) 339 5 Mansa – Bhatinda Doubling (49 Km) 216 6 Amritsar to Chheharta Doubling (7 Km) 31 Jallandhar-Pathankot-Jammu Tawi Doubling 850 7 (209 km) Contd…4-4- S. Cost Project No. ( in Cr.) Kathua-Madhopur Punjab - doubling across Ravi 257 8 Bridge(2.5 Km) 9 Rajpura-Bhatinda Doubling (173 Km) 2459 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab which have been taken up are as under: Cost SN. Project ( in Cr.) Nangal Dam-Talwara & Taking over siding of 1 2018 Mukerian-Talwara New line (143 Km) 2 Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri New Line(63 Km) 6753 3 Qadian-Beas New Line(40 km) 842 4 Ferozpur-Patti New Line (26 Km) 300 Rama Mandi (Raman)-Maur Mandi (Maur) via 5 154 Talwandi Sabo ( 29 km) New Line 6 Ludhiana-Kila Raipur doubling (19 Km) 238 7 Ludhiana-Mullanpur doubling (21 Km) 235 8 Rajpura-Mohali New Line (18 km) 443 Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Punjab. For instance, details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under: - Contd…5-5- Total land Land Balance Land SN Name of the project required acquired to be acquired (in Ha) (in Ha) (in Ha) 1 Firozpur-Patti new line 166 0 166 Alal-Himmatana Chord 2 20 0 20 line 3 Qadian-Beas New Line 151 0 151 Rama Mandi( Raman)- 4 85 0 85 Talwandi Sabo New Line Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) situated fully in Punjab is an important project near the international border. Land for project was to be handed over free of cost for this project by State Govt. of Punjab. Total 166 Ha land is to be acquired in the districts of Firozpur and Tarn Taran. Award for entire land has been published in Mar’23. However, disbursement of award has not been done by State Government considering delay in execution of this important border area project, Ministry of Railways has decided to take up Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) through its own funding. 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 Contd…6-6-  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. Various steps taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include:  Substantial increase in allocation of funds.  Delegation of powers at field level.  Close monitoring of progress of project at various levels.  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. *****