The Railways has taken up 10 projects costing ₹22,334 crore in Andhra Pradesh on a cost-sharing basis, including five new lines with a total length 958 km and an equal number of doubling projects of 811 km, but their progress is severely hampered due to the failure of the State government to pay ₹3,263 crore towards its share, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.
In a written reply to a question posed by BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, the Railway Minister said that the 309-km Nadikudi - Srikalahasti line had been included in the 2011-12 budget. While its sanctioned cost was ₹2,643 crore, the anticipated cost was ₹5,000 crore.
“The A.P. government has to provide land for it free of cost and share 50% of the cost of construction. So far, an expenditure of ₹1,144 crore has been incurred on the project. The A.P. government has deposited only ₹6 crore towards its share,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.
The project involves acquisition of 2,220 hectares of land, out of which the State government handed over only 1,269 hectares.
“The execution of the project has been taken up in three phases. New line between Piduguralla and Savalyapuram under Phase-I was completed and commissioned in March 2020. For the Gundlakamma - Kanigiri line under Phase-II, tenders were awarded for earthwork and bridges, and 70% works were. For the Kanigiri - Venkatagiri line under Phase-III, land acquisition was taken up by the Stae government. It, however, is yet to deposit ₹1,351.50 crore towards its share of the project cost,” the Minister said.
The Guntur-Guntakal line doubling with electrification was sanctioned in 2017-18 at a cost of ₹3,631 crore. “So far, an expenditure of ₹1,276 crore has been incurred. A budget outlay of ₹364 crore has been provided for 2021-22 financial year,” he said.
The project involves acquisition of 197 hectares of private land, seven hectares of government land and diversion of 31 hectares of forest land, out of which 14 hectares of private land have been acquired. The State government has to expedite the remaining land acquisition and diversion of forest land, he said.
