Railway Projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise, as, Indian Railway’s network  straddles across various state boundaries. Indian Railways has taken up 513 Railway Projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling works). These projects are in different stages of planning/sanction/execution. The project-wise details including cost, expenditure and outlay are available in public domain on Indian Railways’ website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in >Ministry of Railways >Railway Board >About Indian Railways >Railway Board Directorates >Finance (Budget) >Railways> Pink Book (year) >Railway-wise Works, Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.

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 site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions, etc. and all these factors differ from project to project and affect the completion time of the project(s).

Average Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and Safety works during 2014-19 has increased to Rs. 26,026 crore per year from Rs. 11,527 crore per year (during 2009-14), which is 126% more than Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14. The Budget allocation during 2019-20 has further increased to Rs. 39,836 crore which is around 245% more than Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14 and is also the highest ever expenditure in any financial year for Infrastructure and Safety works.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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