Indian Railway

Currently, construction is ongoing for metro rail projects covering 986 km in various cities. Major lines in Mumbai and Delhi are set to be completed this year, enhancing connectivity for commuters.

Operating more than 13,000 passenger trains across approximately 68,000 route kilometers and linking 7,325 stations, the railway system plays a pivotal role in India's growth narrative.

Addressing the inaugural session of 16th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference cum Expo 2023 here, the minister said that the pace of growth of metro network in the country has seen an unprecedented increase in recent years.

Texmaco was up more than 11 per cent at Rs 145.80 on the BSE, while Railtel was up almost 11 per cent at Rs 184.50.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country.

In the Union Budget 2023-24, the entire emphasis of the Modi government will be on infrastructure development, especially projects related to Railways and getting high-speed trains becoming operational as soon as possible. The Modi government is working on increasing the railway budget by 20-25 per cent to strengthen the infrastructure of the entire railway system.

In its first term, the Modi government at the Centre had linked the Rail Budget with the General Budget, under which the money for the Railways is now provided. According to the information, the Centre is going to increase the Railway Budget this time by up to 20 per cent.

This system has been implemented in many countries where high-speed passenger trains run, including China, Japan, France and South Africa. If the Railways plans to run Vande Bharat trains in its entire network, then major changes will have to be made in the whole network and more and more power will also be needed. The existing overhead lines may find it difficult to meet the future demand for high-speed trains running simultaneously.

Stating that it is the highest ever allocation to SCR, its General Manager Sanjeev Kishor said Thursday that compared to Rs 7,049 crore for the year 2021-22, the fund allocation has been increased by nearly 30 per cent for the current fiscal. The 'Pink Book', a compendium containing all the details about the infrastructure works, demands for grants and comprehensive details of budgetary allocations for carrying out various works in Railways, was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

To achieve this target with creation of other infrastructure in the sector, the government has increased the CAPEX (Capital expenditures) by five fold in the last seven years. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled Economic Survey 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha. The survey claims that IR is targeting 100 per cent electrification of its network by December 2023, upgradation of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata corridors to 160 kmph and also elimination of level crossings on the Golden Quadrilateral and Golden Diagonal routes.