Indian Railways is in various stages of planning and execution of 452 projects with a total length of 49,323 km costing approximately Rs 7.33 trillion. These include 183 new lines, 42 gauge conversions and 227 doublings. Of 49,323 km, 11,518 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of about Rs 2.35 trillion has been incurred up to March 2022, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Lok Sabha.
Presently, the railway’s focus is on the completion of capacity enhancement projects, last mile connectivity projects, national projects and gauge conversion projects, he said.
The completion of railway projects depends on various factors like a quick land acquisition by state governments, forest clearance by officials of the forest department, deposition of cost share by the state government in cost-sharing projects, priority of projects, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of the 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. and all these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project(s). With the above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project(s) expeditiously, the minister said.
Presently, the railway’s focus is on the completion of capacity enhancement projects, last mile connectivity projects, national projects and gauge conversion projects.