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

 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 of April 1, 2024, in Bihar, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in 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 of 01.04.2024, 55 projects (31 new lines, two gauge conversions, and 22 doublings) of total length of 5,064 km, costing Rs 79,356 crore falling fully/partly in 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 “ steps taken by Railways to complete said projects in a time bound manner” and “ 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”.

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

He ded, “Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in state of Bihar are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North Eastern Railway (NER) and Norast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zones of Indian Railways. Zonal railway wise details of railway projects including cost, expenditure, and outlay are me available in public domain.” According to railway minister, annual budget allocation for infrastructure and safety works falling fully/partly in Bihar was Rs 8,505 crore for 2023-24.