To make the Indian Railways future ready, the Budget proposes to provide ₹1.10 lakh crore to Indian Railways in the present fiscal, of which ₹1.07 lakh crore will be spent in capital expenditure, a record high.
The strategic disinvestment of Container Corporation of India (Concor) will be completed this year.
Also, Railways will monetise Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) assets for operations and maintenance, after commissioning, as a part of monetising operating public infrastructure assets for new infrastructure construction.
These were some of the major announcements this year for the rail sector this Union budget.
Pointing out that national rail plan of Indian Railways has been made with a core focus to lower the logistics cost and improve Make in India. the Finance Minister said that the eastern and western dedicated freight corridor will be commissioned by June 2022.
Also read: Budgeting for a future-ready Railways
She added that plans for taking forward future dedicated fright corridors – along East Coast, East West routes will be undertaken.
Use of indigenous signaling technology, focus on increasing safety, were some of the other announcements.
With 72 per cent of broad gauge route kilometers of Indian Railways to be electrified by end of 2021, the entire broad gauge network will be electrified by 2023, the FM reiterated.
The Budget also announced funds Kochi Metro, Chennai Metro (₹63,246 crore), Bengaluru Metro, Nagpur Metro and Nasik Metro.
Also, two new, light-rail technology – like Metro Lite, Metro Neo – will be used for tier-2 cities and feeder routes for in bigger cities.
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