Barwadih Chirimiri railway line
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO 125
ANSWERED ON 29.12.2017
Barwadih Chirimiri railway line
125 Shri Ram Vichar Netam
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :-
(a) whether Government is aware of the area of land acquired for Barwadih-Chirmiri railway line and the extent of work of this project completed;
(b) if so, the dates of sanction and commencement of this project along with the total amount allocated and spent on this project, so far; and
(c) whether this project has been cancelled, if so, the reasons therefor and if not, the deadline set by Government for completion of this project?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 125 BY SHRI RAM VICHAR NETAM ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 29.12.2017 REGARDING BARWADIH-CHIRIMIRI RAILWAY LINE
(a) to (c): Yes, Sir. A part of Barwadih-Chirmiri (182 Km) i.e. Barwadih to Sarnadih (64.33 Km) was initially sanctioned by Railway Board in 1947. Formation work including some of the bridges were completed. However, the work was stopped in the beginning of 1950 owing to financial stringencies. In survey done in 1978, old alignment was not found technically feasible due to change in ruling gradient and specifications. Updating survey for new line between Barwadih-Chirmiri (Ambikapur) (182 Km) was conducted in year 2010-2011 at a cost of Rs.1104.50 crore with Rate of Return (ROR) of 8.61%. Further, the then Planning Commission was requested (March 2012) to accord ‘In Principle’ approval to the work of new line between Barwadih and Ambikapur (182 Km) at a cost of 1104.50 crore. Out of total project length of 182 Km, 77 Km falls in the State of Jharkhand and remaining 105 Km falls in the State of Chhattisgarh. The then Planning Commission has accorded (June 2012) ‘In Principle’ approval to the aforesaid project with the condition that the Railway gets land free of cost from concerned State Govt. and approach Coal India, which has huge investible surplus, with the request to jointly develop this project as a joint venture. Accordingly, State Government of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Coal India Ltd were requested in May 2013 to provide land free of cost and develop this project jointly. At that time, neither State Government of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand nor Coal India Ltd responded. As such project could not be taken forward. After 1950, expenditure has been incurred only on fresh survey and its updating.
Now, Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation Limited (a Joint Venture Company of Government of Chhattisgarh and Ministry of Railways) has identified this project as a potential project for further development and has awarded a consultancy contract in November 2017 for assessment of economic viability and feasibility of the Barwadih to Ambikapur new line project.
Sanction of project will be based on feasibility study being conducted by Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation Limited.