YSRCP MP Balasouri asked the Government in the Parliament on Wednesday if the Railway department had sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore for the Vijayawada-Gudur 3rd railway line project and also asked for an update on the works and estimated expenditure for this project.

Responding to the query raised by the YSRCP member, the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said the Vijayawada - Gudur Third line project was sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 287 Kms at an approximate cost of Rs 3,876 crores and by March 2021, a total of Rs 2,576 crores have been spent on this project.

He said there are proposals for railway works with an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore in the financial year 2022-23. While the works on a continuous stretch of 66.85 Kms of third line have been completed and works on the remaining distance would be completed soon, the Railway Minister informed the House.

While explaining the issues causing delay in the railway line works, the Union Minister said completion of railway projects in general is linked to a variety of factors including the state government’s efforts to expedite the completion of land acquisition, clearances by forest officials in respect of forest lands, violations in the case of utilities shifts and obtaining legal clearances from various authorities. However, efforts are being made to complete the work expeditiously.

The Union Minister said, however, since 2014 there has been a significant increase in expenditure on infrastructure and safety of projects in the railway sector. For instance, the budgetary allocation for Andhra Pradesh state during 2009-14 was Rs 886 crore, which has been increased to Rs 2,830 crore between 2014-19 which is an approximately 219% jump compared to previous allocations.

He added during 2014-21, a total of 731 Kms of railway line including 319 km new lines and 412 km doubling line works were completed in Andhra Pradesh. On an average yearly 104.43 Kms works were undertaken by the railway department.