Projects without funds derail railway minister

Railway sources also flash a list of 45 unremunerative railway lines, mostly to backward areas, which would carry too few passengers and too little freight to bring in any real profit.

Some of the unremunerative new lines announced during Paswan’s 16-month tenure include those in the list of unapproved projects. Altogether, the unremunerative lines will cost the Railways about Rs 15,000 crore to construct at today’s prices. “Paswan is not bothered how and when the Railways will find the money to build all the new lines he has announced,” a Railway official said, commenting upon the Minister’s populist ways.

If the Railways were serious about all the projects sanctioned so far by Paswan, they would not announce any more new lines for many more years, officials argue. They would need all the money to complete the task already on hand.

While projects worth thousands of crores have been announced this year alone, the Railway Budget for 1997-98 provided only about Rs 1,000 crore for gauge conversion, Rs 400 crore for new lines and Rs 200 crore for doubling existing lines.

The figures include the amount likely to be spent this year on projects begun in previous years.

The unapproved projects do have an approval from Parliament. Of the 44 projects in the list, 25 were presented before Parliament in Railway Budget, 1997-98. The remaining 19 were sanctioned by Parliament, when Railways sought supplementary grants.

But they still violate the principle that the parliamentary approval should be sought only after the Railway Board, Planning