Shillong, Nov. 23: The proposed railway line from Byrnihat in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya to Shillong will cost Rs 5,308 crore and the final survey has been completed for 104km out of 108km.

Another project on a 22km-line connecting Teteliya in Assam to Byrnihat is anticipated to cost Rs 496 crore.

This was informed by minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain in his written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. "The two new projects have been taken up to connect Meghalaya with India's railway network," the statement said.

Gohain said in Teteliya-Byrnihat and Byrnihat-Shillong new line projects, Byrnihat and Shillong are identified for development of goods-handling facilities.

For the Teteliya-Byrnihat line, an expenditure of Rs 235 crore has been incurred up to March this year. Besides earthwork, works for bridges and tunnels have been taken up under the project. An allocation of Rs 150 crore had been made in 2015-16 and Rs 160 crore in 2016-17 to expedite completion of the project.

For Byrnihat-Shillong line, an expenditure of Rs 21 crore has been incurred up to March 2016 and an outlay of Rs 300 crore has been provided for 2016-17.

"The project is held up due to protest by the Khasi Students' Union. Final location survey was stopped by the KSU in November 2010 after survey up to 19km. The survey again started in December, 2013. Since then it has been stopped by the KSU on many occasions of varying durations. The final location survey has since been completed for 104km," the statement said.

Saying that regular meetings with the Meghalaya government are being convened to sort out issues, the statement said: "Due to various uncertainties with reference to land acquisition and law and order, it is not feasible to fix timelines for completion of this project."