Highlights of Railway Budget pertaining to SCR

Highlights of Railway Budget 2020-21

The Pink book, a compendium containing all the details about the infrastructure works, demands for grants and comprehensive details of budgetary allocations for carrying out various works in Railways, has been tabled in the Parliament on 05th February, 2020.

Details of important measures announced in the budget in Indian Railway perspective are: 

Setting up a large solar power capacity alongside the rail tracks, on the land owned by the railways. A proposal is under consideration. 

Four station re-development projects and operation of 150 passenger trains would be done through PPP mode. The process of inviting private participation is underway. 

More Tejas type trains to connect iconic tourist destinations. 

The aim of Government is to make Indian Railways the growth engine of the economy. To this end, Government has increased investment and introduced modern technology while focusing on safety, speed and service to passengers.

The capital investments in Railways for the financial year 2020-21 is Rs. 1,61,042 Crore as against Rs 1,56,352 Crore during 2019-20, which is 3% higher. 

Highlights of Railway Budget pertaining to South Central Railway

The zone has got a substantial budgetary allocation for the year 2020-21. 

Towards infrastructure works, SCR has been sanctioned a staggering amount of Rs 6,846 Crore for the year 2020-21 

For New lines, the total budgetary grant including Capital, Deposit, Extra Budgetary Resources etc is Rs 2,856 Crore. 

For Doubling, Third Line and Bypass line works, the total budgetary grant is Rs 3,836 Crore, 

For Traffic facilities, the total budgetary grant is Rs 154 Crore.

New Doubling works have been sanctioned in the current budget which includes:

Doubling of Dharmavaram – Pakala – Katpadi for a distance of 290 Km with an estimated cost of Rs 2,900 crore 

Doubling of Guntur – Bibinagar for a distance of 248 Km with an estimated cost of Rs 2,480 crore

Doubling of Akola – Dhone via Purna, Mudkhed, Secunderabad, Mahabubnagar ( Excluding sections between Purna- Mudkhed & Bolarum – Mahabubnagar which are already in progress) for a distance of 626 km with an estimated cost of Rs 6,260 crore.

A major thrust has also been given to Passenger amenity work. Accordingly, substantial amount of budgetary grant of Rs 672 crore has been allotted for improvement in passenger amenities including facilities for ‘Divyangjan.

The zone has already eliminated all the Unmanned Level Crossing gates in the entire network.  In order to further strengthen the safety and ensure smooth flow of vehicular traffic, SCR has started elimination of Manned Level Crossing Gates and in the current financial year, 104 manned level crossings have been eliminated by January, 2020.

For Road Safety Works (Level Crossings, Bridges and ROB/RUB) the budgetary grant is Rs 542 Crore. 

For Track Renewals, the budgetary grant is Rs 900 Crore. 

For provision of Train Collision Avoidance system (TCAS) between Manmad – Nanded - Secunderabad – Dhone – Guntakal and Bidar - Parli – Parbhani sections  an amount of Rs 100 crore has been allotted.

Budgetary Allocations for important ongoing projects in the budget:

Allocation for the last mile projects:

Rs. 54 Crore allotted for Akkannapet – Medak new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 2012-13 for a distance of 17 Kms at an estimated cost of Rs. 118 crore. 50% of the project cost would be shared by the Govt of Telangana with land free of cost. The works are nearing completion.

Rs. 75 Crore allotted for Mudkhed – Parbhani doubling project. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2012-13 for a distance of 81 kms at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 391 Crore. The section between Parbhani – Mirkhel for a distance of 17 Kms and Mudkhed -Nanded-Limbgaon for a distance of 36 Kms totaling to 53 Kms completed and commissioned. The works in the balance portion of 29 Kms between Mirkhel-Limbgaon are in fast progress.

Rs. 40 crore allotted for MMTS Phase II project which was sanctioned in the year 2012-13 with the estimated cost Rs. 817 Crore. The works on sections between Telapur – Ramachandrapuram for a distance of 5.75 Kms completed and commissioned. The works on Moula Ali – Ghatkesar and Malkajgiri- Bolarum-Medchal sections are nearing completion. The project is targeted for completion at the earliest. 

Allocations for the major ongoing projects

Rs. 235 Crore allotted for Manoharabad–Kothapalli new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 2006-07 for a distance of 151 Kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 1160 Crore. This is a cost sharing project with Govt. of Telangana. Accordingly, 1/3rd cost will be shared by Govt of Telangana and land will be given by them at free of cost. The first phase of the project from Manoharabad – Gajwel for a distance of 32 kms is nearing completion.

Rs. 240 Crore allotted for Munirabad–Mahbubnagar new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 1997-98 for a distance of 243 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 1723 Crore. Out of 243 Kms, 66 kms falls under the jurisdiction of SCR (Telangana State) and the estimated cost for that portion is Rs 452 Crore.  The remaining portion of 177 Kms belongs to SWR (Karnataka State). The section between Devarakadra – Jaklair for a distance of 29 Kms has been completed and commissioned. The works between Jaklair – Makthal section for distance of 11.06 Km and between Krishna - Maganur section for a distance of 18.34 Km are in fast progress.

Rs. 520 Crore allotted for Bhadrachalam – Sattupalli new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 2010-11 for a distance of 54 Kms with an estimated cost of Rs 704 Crore. The project has been taken up jointly by Railways and Singareni Collieries. As per the agreement land will be provided by Railways and expenditure towards construction will be provided by Singareni Collieries. Works are under progress. 

Rs. 483 Crore allotted for Kazipet – Balharshah 3rd line project. The 3rd Line project sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 202 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 2,063 Crore. The sections between Raghavapuram-Potkapalli, Bisugir Sharif-Uppal and Wirur-Manikgarh totaling to a length of 66 kms are nearing completion. The works in the remaining sections are progressing.

Rs. 1198 Crore allotted for Nadikudi–Srikalahasti new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 2011-12 for a distance of 309 Kms with an estimated cost of Rs.2,289 Crore. 50% of the project cost would be shared by the Govt. of AP with land free of cost. Under Phase 1, the works from Piduguralla to Savalyapuram for a distance of 47 kms were halted in some stretches due to pending court cases on land acquisition. Now, recently Hon’ble High Court has given clearance in railways favour. Accordingly, works are started and progressing well in that stretches and are nearing completion. 

Rs. 294 Crore allotted for Guntur – Guntakal doubling project. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2016-17 for a distance of 401 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 3,631 Crore. The project is 50% cost sharing with Govt. of AP. The section between Perecherla – Satalur for a distance of 23 Kms is completed while the sections between Pendekallu – Dhone for a length of 26 kms are nearing completion and the works in the remaining stretches also progressing well. The consultancy works for construction of major tunnels at Bogada and Chelma is also in progress.

Rs. 1158 Crore allotted for Vijayawada– Gudivada/ Machilipatnam-Bhimavaram/ Narsapur–Nidadavolu doubling and electrification. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2011-12 for a distance of 221 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 1429 Crore. It is a cost sharing project and 50% of the project cost will be shared by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. The Section between Moturu -Bhimavaram for a distance of 56 Kms is completed and commissioned. The works in the Uppaluru-Moturu  section are nearing completion and the works in the remaining sections are in fast progress. 

Rs. 551 Crore allotted for Kotipalli–Narsapur new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 2000-01 for a distance of 57 Kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 2,120 Crore. 25% of the project cost would be shared by the Govt of AP. The new line works in this section involves construction of important major bridges on  Gowthami, Vynatheya  and Vashista rivers, which are progressing at a brisk pace. 

Rs. 185 Crore allotted for Secunderabad – Mahbubnagar doubling project. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 85 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 774 Crore. The sections between Shadnagar - Gollapalli for a distance of 29 Kms are nearing completion and the works in the remaining sections also progressing at fast pace.

Rs. 135 Crore allotted for Gooty – Dharmavaram doubling project. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 91 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 636 Crore. The works in the sections between Kalluru- Garladinne for a distance of 11 Kms completed and commissioned. The works between Gooty –Kalluru and Dharmavaram – Garladinne for a distance of 80 Kms are in fast progress.

Rs. 404 Crore allotted for Kazipet – Vijayawada 3rd line project. The 3rd Line project was sanctioned in the year 2012-13 for a distance of 219 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 1,857 Crore. The section between Vijayawada - Kondapalli for a distance of 17.5 Kms is nearing completion. The works in Kondapalli- Errupalem are in fast progress and the works in the remaining sections are also progressing well.

Rs. 664 Crore allotted for Vijayawada – Gudur 3rd line project. The 3rd Line project was sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 288 kms with an estimated cost of Rs. 3246 Crore. Execution of works has been commenced in three phases between Gudur- Bitragunta, Kovvuru - Bitragunta and Krishna Canal - Kovvuru simultaneously.

Rs.10 lakhs has been allotted for Ghatkesar – Yadadri extension MMTS phase-II. Sanctioned in the year 2016-17 for a distance of 33 Kms with a revised estimate of Rs. 412 Crore. This project is a joint venture of Railways and Government of Telangana with cost sharing of 1/3rd and 2/3rd respectively. 

Rs. 222 Crore allotted for construction of Bye Pass lines at Vijayawada (19.5 Kms), Kazipet (10.65 Kms), Renigunta (9.6 Kms), Wadi (7.6 Kms) and Gooty (3.8 Kms).

Allocations for Electrification Projects

Under Mission Electrification, in the current financial year 178 Km of electrification has been completed and allocations in the current budget are also satisfactory. The details are as follows-

Rs.  50 crore allotted for Electrification of Manmad – Mudkhed – Dhone section for a distance of 783 Kms sanctioned in the year 2015-16  at an estimated cost of Rs. 865 Crs. Revised estimate prepared excluding Umdanagar- Mahabubnagar section and sanctioned for Rs. 902 Cr

Rs.  25 crore allotted for Electrification of Dharmavaram-Pakala section for distance of 228 Kms sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at an estimated cost of Rs. 253 Cr.

Rs.  18 crore allotted for Electrification of Nandyal –Yerraguntla section for distance of 123 Kms sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at an estimated cost of Rs. 135 Cr.

Rs. 15 crore allotted for Electrification of Lingampet Jagityal - Nizamabad for a distance of 95 Kms sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at an estimated cost of Rs 97 Cr.

Rs. 20 crore allotted for Electrification of Parli Vaijnath - Vikarabad section for a distance of 269 Kms sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at an estimated cost of Rs 312 Cr.

Rs. 20 crore allotted for Electrification of Pipalkutti - Mudhked and Parbhani- Parli Vaijnath section for a distance of 246 Kms sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at an estimated cost of Rs 325 Cr.

Rs. 20 crore allotted for Electrification of Purna- Akola section for a distance of 209 Kms sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at an estimated cost of Rs 277 Cr.

Rs. 10 crore allotted for Electrification of Gadwal – Raichur section for a distance of 57 Kms.

Allocations for Other Projects

Rs. 5 Crore allotted for development of Satellite terminal at Cherlapalli Station.

Rs. 30 Crore allotted for Midlife Rehabilitation factory at Kurnool.

Rs. 6 Crore allotted for Development of Second Entry at Tirupati Railway Station.

Rs. 11 Crore allotted for development of Tiruchanur Railway Station.