Fund crunch delays 368 rail projects

Railway projects are getting delayed due to funds constraint, which is one of the major impediments for timely execution of ongoing projects, Rajya Sabha was told today.
As on April 2013, there are 368 ongoing projects of new line, gauge conversion and doubling having a throw forward of Rs 1,78,216 crores with limited availability of resources as an outlay of only Rs 11,250 crores has ben provided during 2013-14, Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy said in a written reply.
Therefore, projects are progressing as per availability of resources. Targets are fixed every year depending upon availability of resources and progress of individual projects, he said.

To expedite completion of projects, a number of initiatives have been taken to generate aditional resources through non-budgetary measures like funding by state governments and other beneficiaries, execution of projects through Rail Vikas Nigam Limited on special purpose vehicle basis, raising of funds through market burrowing etc.
To reduce delays on account of land acquisition, security issues and forestry clearances, meetings with state officials at various levels are held from time to time.