FM Reviews Railways Capex, Emphasizes Capacity, Safety, and Project Execution

During the meeting, officials from the Ministry of Railways presented their capital expenditure plans and progress for the current fiscal year.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, chaired a review meeting today in New Delhi to assess the Budgeted Capital Expenditure (Capex) of the Ministry of Railways (MoR) for the fiscal year 2024-25. This review is part of a series of meetings aimed at evaluating the Capex outlays of key ministries and departments.

During the meeting, officials from the Ministry of Railways presented their capital expenditure plans and progress for the current fiscal year. Emphasizing the government's focus on enhancing the "ease of living" for citizens, Smt. Sitharaman urged railway officials to prioritize capacity augmentation, safety improvements, and commuter convenience. This includes the doubling and electrification of existing railway tracks, as well as the construction of new railway lines in line with the Capex provisions.

A key highlight of the 2024-25 Interim Budget was the allocation for three Economic Railway Corridors under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, designed to enhance multi-modal connectivity. These corridors include:

Energy, Mineral, and Cement Corridors

Port Connectivity Corridors

High Traffic Density Corridors

The Ministry of Railways revealed that 434 projects have been identified under these Economic Corridors, covering a total of 40,900 km and requiring an investment of Rs. 11.16 lakh crore. The projects are divided into three categories:

Energy, Mineral, and Cement Corridor (192 projects)

High-Density Network Corridors (200 projects)

Rail Sagar Projects (42 projects)

Of these, 55 projects, spanning 5,723 km with an investment of Rs. 1.03 lakh crore, have already been sanctioned. An additional 101 projects are scheduled for review this year.

Smt. Sitharaman also urged officials to expedite the rollout of the Kavach system, India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, in a phased manner. MoR officials reported that Kavach-related work is currently in progress across over 3,000 route kilometers on the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai sections. The Kota–Sawai Madhopur Section, covering 108 km, was recently operationalized with Kavach Version 4.0, marking significant progress in enhancing safety.

In addition, the Finance Minister emphasized the need to convert 40,000 normal rail bogies to Vande Bharat standards, as announced in the 2024-25 Interim Budget, to improve passenger safety, convenience, and comfort.

Smt. Sitharaman concluded by urging the Ministry of Railways to meet its Capex target for FY 2024-25 within the stipulated timeframe, building on the progress achieved in the first 100 days of the current government.