कथन

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the key policy measures taken by the Government to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the railway sector; (b) the year-wise details of the FDI received in the railway sector since 2020 along with the details of the major projects implemented through FDI including the details of the top countries investing in country’s railway 18.03.2026 106 infrastructure through FDI; (c) the details of the FDI’s contribution in improving railway stations under the Station Redevelopment Programme particularly in Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; (d) the details of the measures taken to encourage collaboration between Indian and foreign railway technology firms for technology transfer; and (e) whether the Government is considering any policy revisions planned to further enhance FDI inflows in Indian Railways and if so, the details of the considerations and expected outcomes? THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS; MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; AND MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW): (a) to (e) : As per the Government’s FDI Policy Circular dated 15.10.2020, as amended from time to time, 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route under the Railway Infrastructure sector. The permitted areas include construction, operation and maintenance of the following:-  Suburban corridor projects through PPP,  High speed train projects;  Dedicated freight lines;  Rolling stock including trainsets and locomotives/coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities;  Railway Electrification; 18.03.2026 107  Signalling systems;  Freight Terminals;  Passenger terminals;  Infrastructure in industrial part pertaining to railway line/sidings including electrified railway lines and connectivity to main railway line; and  Mass Rapid Transport Systems. A total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow from 2014-15 to 2025-26 (upto December 2025) in Railway Sector is US$ 942 Million. The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for capital investment in Railways was ₹29,055 Crore in 2013-14. In order to provide adequate support for network expansion, rolling stock augmentation, safety improvement, passenger amentities, road safety works and technology upgradation, Government of India consistently augmented the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) every year and for 2026-27, ₹2.78 lakh crore has been allocated. Adequate domestic funding has helped the Indian Railway sector to invest more in infrastructure and technology in order to compete with the global market. Further, as an ongoing process of International technical collaboration, Ministry of Railways has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Spain etc. The MoU has been signed for technical cooperation in the areas of Freight and Passengers operations 18.03.2026 108 (Multimodal transport), High-Speed rail development, and IT solutions for railway operations and for administrative purposes, Predictive Maintenance of Assets etc. Export to other countries Over the past decade, India has developed a strong and diversified railway manufacturing eco-system comprising of Indian Railways’ Production Units and Industry base. Presently, Industry manufactures almost the entire range of railway rolling stocks such as locomotives, passenger coaches, wagons and critical components such as Traction motors, Gear Boxes, Motorized Bogies, Traction transformers, Metro cars, Propulsion system, Traction and Auxillary converters, Cable harness, Electronic cards, Magnetics etc. in India. These items are exported to both developed as well as developing countries such as Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, USA, France, Germany, Mozambique, Mexico, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Romania, Spain and Italy etc. With this supportive eco-system in place, during 2016-17 to 2025-26 (upto January 2026), total value of exports in Railway sector from India has reached US$ 3355 Million (~₹26,000 cr.). SOUTH COAST RAILWAY ZONE HQ AT VISAKHAPATNAM *373. SHRI Y. S. AVINASH REDDY: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the year-wise details of fund allocation and expenditure for establishment 18.03.2026 109 of South Coast Railway Zone HQ at Visakhapatnam since its announcement; (b) the current status of land acquisition and administrative infrastructure development as on February 2026; and (c) the details of the timeline for the phased operationalization of the zone? THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS; MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; AND MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW): (a) to (c) : For setting up headquarters of new South Coast Railway (SCoR), 52.2 Acre land at Mudasarlova, Visakhapatnam has been handed over by Government of Andhra Pradesh to Railways in August 2024. Foundation stone for new South Coast Zone has been laid in Jan 2025. The work of “Setting up of South Coast Railways’ Zone HQ” has been sanctioned at cost of ₹106.89 Cr. Tender for SCoR HQ office building has been awarded and the construction for this new headquarters office building has been taken up. Foundation work has been completed and balance works are in progress. An allocation of ₹55.0 Cr. was made during year 2025-26 and an expenditure of ₹32.31 Cr. has been incurred so far. In addition, works costing about ₹157.93 Cr. for construction of associated works, residential accommodation etc. have also been sanctioned. In the meanwhile, to operationalise SCoR HQ, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Vishakhapatnam Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (VMRDA)/Government of Andhra Pradesh for hiring of 18.03.2026 110 building for makeshift SCoR HQ. This makeshift office accommodation at “The Deck” at VMRDA is also ready for occupation. Other steps taken to operationalise SCoR HQ are as under:  General Manager and Senior officers from various disciplines have been posted.  Control Office setup has also been created at the makeshift SCoR headquarter.  Options have been invited from non-gazetted staff for posting to the new zone. Further, to improve railway infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh state, following steps have been taken: Railway Budget: Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh is as under: Period Outlay 2009-2014 ₹886 Cr./year (including Telangana) 2025-2026 ₹9,417 Cr. (more than 10 times) Track Construction: The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under: 18.03.2026 111 Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 39 projects (12 New Line and 27 Doubling), covering a total length of 4,499 Km length, costing ₹70,232 Cr., falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh, have been sanctioned, out of which 1,178 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹28,039 Cr. has been incurred upto March 2025. The status of the work is summarized as: Category No. of projects Total Length (Km) Length Commissioned till March, 2025 (in Km) Total Exp. upto March, 2025 (₹ in Cr.) New Line 12 1595 199 6,413 Multi- tracking/Doubling 27 2904 979 21,626 Total 39 4,499 1,178 28,039 Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Recently completed Projects: Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh are as under: SN Name of Project Cost (₹ in Cr.) 1 Vijaywada – Gudivada – Bhimavaram - Narsapur, Gudivada- Machlipatnam and Bhimavaram-Nidadavolu doubling (221 Km) 4,688 2 Guntur-Tenali doubling (24 Km) 205 Period New Track Commissioned Average Commissioning of new tracks 2009-14 363 Km 72.6 Km per year 2014-25 1,582 Km 143.82 Km per year (Nearly 2 times) 18.03.2026 112 3 Nandyal-Yerraguntla new line (126 Km) 1,050 4 Jaggayyapeta-Mellacheruvu-Janpahad new line (48 Km) 737 5 Obulavaripalle-Krishnapattnam new line (113 Km) 2,300 6 Vizianagaram-Kottavalsa 3rd Line (35 Km) 285 7 Raichur-Guntakal doubling (81 Km) 388 8 Guntakal-Kalluru doubling (41 Km) 410 9 Yelahanka-Penukonda doubling (123 Km) 1,104 10 Gooty-Dharmavaram doubling (90 Km) 1,800 Ongoing Projects: Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh which have been taken up are as under: S.N Name of Project Cost (₹ in Cr.) 1 Kotipalli-Narsapur new line (57 Km) 2,120 2 Nadikude-Srikalahasti new line (309 Km) 3,122 3 Rayadurg-Kalyandurg-Tumkur new line (207 Km) 2,496 4 Marikuppam-Kuppam new line (24 Km) 297 5 Malugur – Palasamudram new line (18 Km) 342 6 Malkangiri- Bhadrachalam - Pandurangapuram new line (174 Km) 3,592 7 Kottavalasa-Koraput Doubling (189 Km) 2,500 8 Vijaywada- Gudur 3rd line (287 Km) 6,509 9 Guntakal- Guntur Doubling (401 Km) 4,306 10 Pennukonda-Dharmavarm Doubling (42 Km) 308 11 Gooty-Pendekallu Doubling(29 Km) 352 12 Duvvada - Simhachalam North 3rd and 4th line (21 Km) 356 13 Kottavalasa - Vizianagram 4th line (35 Km) 493 14 Gudur-Renigunta 3rd Line (83 Km) 877 15 Nergundi - Palasa- Vizianagaram 3rd line (385 Km) 4,963 In addition to these, to improve connectivity of Amravati, following projects have been taken up: 18.03.2026 113 Errupalem-Amravati- Namburu new line (57 Km) Errupalem-Namburu (57 km) new line project has been sanctioned at a cost of ₹2047 Cr. An outlay of ₹171 Cr. has been provided for this project for the year 2025-26. Project is declared as “Special Railway Project” and Competent Authority for Land Acquisition(CALA) is nominated for land acquisition. Land acquisition has been taken up. Guntakal- Guntur doubling (401 Km) Guntakal- Guntur (401 Km) doubling project has been sanctioned at a cost of ₹4306 Cr. An expenditure of ₹3974 Cr. has been incurred upto March 2025 and an outlay of ₹149 Cr. has been provided for this project for the Financial Year 2025-26. Sections Commissioned: 344 Km Status of the project is as under:  Guntakal-Panyam (129 Km): Commissioned.  Guntur-Diguvametta (215 Km): Commissioned.  Panyam-Diguvametta (57 Km), status is as under: SN Activities Scope Status 1 Major Bridge 14 9 Completed and work has been taken up in balance 5 bridges. 2 Station 5 3 Completed and work has been taken up in balance 2 stations. Guntur- Bibinagar doubling (239 Km) Guntur-Bibinagar (239 Km) doubling project has been sanctioned at a cost of 18.03.2026 114 ₹2853 Cr. An expenditure of ₹103 Cr. has been incurred upto March 2025 and an outlay of ₹452 Cr. has been provided for this project for the Financial Year 2025-26. Project is declared as “Special Railway Project” and CALA is nominated for land acquisition. In last three Years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 65 surveys (15 New Line, 50 Doubling) covering a total length of 6,985 Km has been taken up falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Sanction of any railway project depends upon many parameters/factors which include the following: • Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route • First and last mile connectivity provided by the project • Connection of missing links and providing additional route • Augmentation of congested/saturated lines • Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives, • Railway’s operational requirements • Socio-economic considerations • Overall availability of funds Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following: 18.03.2026 115  Land acquisition  Forest clearance  Shifting of infringing utilities  Statutory clearances from various authorities  Geological and topographical conditions of area  Law and order situation in the area of project site  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the projects. HIGH SPEED RAIL CORRIDORS IN BUDGET 2026 *374. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

वक्ता Lata Wankhede

कब कहा 2026-03-18T00:00:00.000Z

किस वाद-विवाद में Presentation of 7th and 8th reports of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes