42 railway projects worth ₹30,826 crore ongoing in Gujarat; 224 km of tracks added annually since 2014
NEW DELHI : Indian Railways is advancing 42 projects in Gujarat, including 6 new lines, 22 gauge conversions, and 14 doubling initiatives, covering a total of 2,947 km. These projects, valued at ₹30,826 crore, are at various stages of planning and implementation. Of the total, 826 km have been commissioned, with ₹9,336 crore spent as of March 2024, the union government stated recently.
Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha during the ongoing winter session of Parliament, stated:
Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise/Constituency-wise as Indian Railway projects may span across State boundaries/Parliamentary Constituencies. 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 under Western Railway and North Western Railway zones of Indian Railway. Zone-wise details of Railway projects, including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website.
As on 01.04.2024, 42 Railway projects (6 New Line, 22 Gauge Conversion and 14 Doubling), of total length of 2,947 Km, costing ₹30,826 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which, 826 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹9,336 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024. The status of work is summarized as under:-
Category | No. of projects | Total Length(in Km) | Length Commissioned(in Km) | Expenditure upto March 2024(₹ in Cr.) |
New Line | 6 | 537 | 105 | 3332 |
GaugeConversion | 22 | 1634 | 671 | 4655 |
Doubling/Multitracking | 14 | 776 | 50 | 1349 |
Total | 42 | 2947 | 826 | 9336 |
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 225 Km, out of about 352 Km section of this project falling in the State of Gujarat, has also been completed.
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.
Railway has taken up construction of Chhotaudepur-Dhar (157 Km) New Line project, which passes through Chhotaudepur constituency. 72 Km length has been commissioned so far. An expenditure of ₹1382 crore has been incurred upto March 2024 and an outlay of ₹200 crore has been provided for this project for the financial year 2024-25.
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 |
2024-25 | ₹8,743 crore (nearly 15 times) |
The details of commissioning/laying of new track, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat during 2009-14 and 2014-24, is as under:-
Period | New Track Commissioned | Average Commissioning of new tracks |
2009-14 | 660 Km | 132 Km/year |
2014-24 | 2,244 Km | 224 Km/year (nearly 02 times) |
Total 49 Nos. of surveys (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling), of total length of 3,791 Km, falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat, have been sanctioned in last three years (i.e. 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023- 2024) and current Financial Year i.e. 2024-2025.
The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of cost share by State Government in cost sharing projects, priority of projects, 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 due to climatic conditions etc.
Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritization of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation 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.