55 railway projects at different stages of construction in Bihar: Vaishnaw

NEW DELHI: A total of 55 railway projects related to new line construction, gauge conversion and doubling of rail tracks were at different stages of construction as on April 1, 2024 in Bihar, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Vaishnaw was responding to questions raised by Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Arun Bharti who wanted to know present status of various ongoing/pending railway projects in Bihar.

“As on 01.04.2024, 55 projects (31 new lines, two gauge conversions and 22 doubling) of total length of 5,064 km, costing Rs 79,356 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar including those falling fully/partly in Jamui constituency are in planning/approval/construction stage.

"Of which, 1,194 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 26,983 crore has been incurred up to March, 2024,” Vaishnaw said

Bharti also asked “the steps taken by the Railways to complete the said projects in a time bound manner” and “the number of railway projects in Bihar and Jamui parliamentary constituency for which survey has been conducted and approved and for which work is not underway as yet”.

“The railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway-wise and not state-wise/constituency-wise as the railway projects may span across state boundaries,” Vaishnaw said.

He added, “Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the state of Bihar are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North Eastern Railway (NER) and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zones of Indian Railways. Zonal railway wise details of railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain.”

According to the railway minister, the annual budget allocation for infrastructure and safety works falling fully/partly in Bihar was Rs 8,505 crore for 2023-24.