The Railways saw its highest allocation ever and a nine times jump in Budget outlay since 2013-14 to ₹240,000 crore. The increased outlay came at a time when the Railways has embarked on ambitious modernisation projects that include  hydrogen powered trains, more Vande Bharat rakes, completion of bullet train project, among others.

Allotment for Railways in FY23 was ₹140,000 crore.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “This is about nine times the outlay made in 2013-14.” She also announced ₹75,000 crore for 100 “critical transport infrastructure projects”, which is likely to help the Railways too, specifically with its freight business.

The capital outlay stood at ₹240,000 crore, up 75 per cent from the ₹137,100-crore estimates of last Budget. On the other hand, revenue outlay stood at ₹1267.51 crore in this year’s Budget.

The net revenue expenditure of Railways is placed at ₹2,65,000 crore in Budget Estimate 2023-24 as against ₹2,42,892.77 crore in RE 2022-23.

The reimbursement of losses on operation of strategic lines has been kept at ₹487.51 crore in Budget Estimate FY24 versus ₹2,461.90 crore in RE FY23.

Around ₹780 crore has been provided FY24 Budget Estimates towards debt servicing of market borrowings for National Projects.

Total receipt of Railways comprising revenues from passenger, goods, other coaching, sundry other heads and Railway Recruitment Boards etc. have been placed at ₹2,65,000 crore in BE 2023-24 as against RE 2022-23 of ₹2,42,892.77 crore.

Among the other different heads, ₹37,581 crore has been earmarked for developing rolling stock in the 2023-24 fiscal, up from ₹7977.84 crore that was allocated in the 2022-23 Budget Estimate. Around ₹31,850 crore has been allocated for addition of new lines while ₹30, 749 crore has been earmarked for doubling rail lines.

The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India had an outlay of ₹27,482 crore.

National High Speed Rail Corp has an outlay of ₹40,184 crore and Kolkata Metro Rail Corp has one of ₹1,000 crore.

Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said, there was a deficit in the budget all these years and the hike in allocation will help Railways realise its potential. “The estimates are very realistic, not optimistic or conservative,” he said adding that “passenger amenities will improve too”.

According to him, Vande Bharat trains will be ramped up and a new category called ‘Vande Metro’ will be launched in order to connect short distance locations by these semi high speed trains.

Around 1275 stations are being redeveloped.

Plans are also afoot to expand the scope of manufacturing of Vande Bharat coached beyond the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai to Sonepat in Haryana, Latur in Maharashtra and Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

Some 400-odd Vande Bharat trains will be added to the Railways’ fleet and the first hydrogen fuel run train is expected to be operational by December 2023. “The hydrogen trains will be indigenously manufactured and will start on the heritage rail routes like Shimla-Kalka,” the Minister said.

An allocation of ₹40,184 crore has been earmarked for the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited for the bullet train project. Of this while the budgetary support amounts to Rs 19,529 crore, another Rs 20,592 crore will be raised through Internal and Extra Budgetary Resources (PSUs, markets).

Bullet trains are progressing well too and there will be focus on “speeding up construction” in Maharashtra.

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