Centre keen to complete railway projects in Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi: Railway line doubling works are progressing faster in Andhra Pradesh due to higher allocations and during 2014-21, 731 km sections (319 km new line and 412 km doubling) falling either fully or partly in Andhra Pradesh had been commissioned, railway minister Aswini Vaishnaw said in the Lok Sabha here on Wednesday.

He made the statement in the House in response to a question by YSRCP V Balashowry on Wednesday.

The minister said Vijayawada-Gudur 3rd line (287 km) work was sanctioned in 2015-16 at a cost of Rs 3,876 crore and an expenditure of Rs 2,576 crore had been incurred up to March 2021. The railways had proposed another Rs 1,000 crore for 2022-23. So far, 66.85 km of tripling had been commissioned. Works were in progress in the balance of the section.

Assuring the member that the ministry was keen that the project is completed at the earliest, he said however, that completion of a railway project depended on various factors like expeditious land acquisition by the state government, forest clearance by officials of forest department and several other issues.

Cost of the project would be calculated at the completion of it only, he added.