RailEnquiry

NEW DELHI, NOV 30:  The Railways finds it “very difficult” to complete projects at the desired pace as new schemes are announced in response to the demands of MPs, Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said in the Rajya Sabha today.

The Railways is one of the departments where announcements are made for new projects on the demands of MPs, he said during Question Hour.

The Railways finds it “very difficult” to complete projects at the desired pace, he said.

The Minister, however, said work on different projects was going on in line with the allocated budget.

He said a project is announced and an estimated cost is worked out. However, the actual cost is worked out after in-principle approval for the project.

The cost of projects always rises due to the prolonged period of execution.

Referring to Rajasthan, he said funds have been provided yearly in line with the availability of resources for completion of projects.

“Steps have been taken to generate extra-budgetary resources through State participation, public-private partnership, defence funding, declaring some projects as national projects and implementation of bankable projects through Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL),” he added.