Two railway projects held up as HP govt yet to clear dues, says Vaishnaw

Shimla: The ‘non-fulfillment’ of ₹1,496.75 crore commitments by the Himachal Pradesh govt has affected the progress of two rail line projects: Chandigarh-Baddi (30 km) and Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri (63.5 km), clarified railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday in the Lok Sabha.“The support of the state govt is required to expedite the projects. Failure to pay the outstanding amount of ₹1,496.75 crore will have a significant impact on these projects,” Vaishnaw mentioned in his written reply to a question by BJP MP from Shimla, Suresh Kashyap. The Union railways minister stated that for the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri new line project, out of the required 124.02 hectare land in Himachal Pradesh, 79.57 hectare of land has been acquired. The work on the available land has also been taken up. “So far, an expenditure of ₹5,205 crore has been incurred on this project, however, ₹1,351 crore is outstanding with the govt of Himachal Pradesh,” he added.Divulging details about the Chandigarh-Baddi new rail line project, the Union railways minister said its work had been taken up, and as on July 1, 2024, ₹727 crore expenditure was incurred on the project. Of the Himachal Pradesh govt’s share, which comes out to be ₹363.5 crore, only Rs 217.75 crore has been deposited while balance share of ₹145.75 crore is outstanding. Vaishnaw added that these two new rail line projects falling fully or partly in Himachal Pradesh have been sanctioned on cost sharing basis with Himachal govt.The Lok Sabha was also informed that a survey for a new line between Jagadhari and Paonta Sahib (62 km) has been completed. Another survey from Ghanoli to Dehradun via Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib (216 km) was also carried out. “However, the projects could not be taken forward due to low traffic projections,” reads the reply. The Union railways minister added that as on April 1, 2024, four new rail lines, with a total length 255 km, costing ₹13,168 crore falling fully or partly in Himachal Pradesh are in planning or approval or construction stage. Out of these, 61 km-length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹6,225 crore has been incurred up to March 2024.For the financial year 2024-25, a budget of Rs 2,698 crore — nearly 25 times of Rs 108 crore sanctioned per year between 2009-14 — has been allocated for infrastructure projects and safety works falling fully or partly in Himachal Pradesh, added Vaishnaw.

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