Railway Budget 2023-24 Updates: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated a capital outlay of Rs 2.40 lakh crore for the Indian Railways in the Union Budget 2023-24. This highest-ever outlay is about nine times the outlay made in Financial Year 2013-14. Till 2014, Railways’ capital expenditure was barely Rs 45,980 crore annually. Presently, there are a lot of projects going on across the country. In the coming years, the capex will increase further and the railway system will actually emerge as an engine of national growth.
The railways will also witness more private investment in the infrastructure sector. For this, the newly established Infrastructure Finance Secretariat will assist all stakeholders including railways, roads, urban infrastructure, and power, which are predominantly dependent on public resources.
This is going to be the last full Budget of the Narendra Modi 2.0 government. In 2016, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government decided not to present a separate Railway budget. Suresh Prabhu was the last Railways Minister to present a separate Railway Budget.
Railway Budget 2023 Highlights: Indian Railway Budget 2023 Highlights
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced redeveloping 1,275 railway stations across the country under the Amrit Bharat scheme. Some of the major station under the redevelopment stage are - New Delhi, CSMT, Puri etc
Raj Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Rodic Consultants said “The budget announcement by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman is extremely progressive and the government has continued its focus on steps to help the economy by prioritizing infrastructure as one of the Saptrishi (7 Priorities of the union budget 2023). The Budget has rightly focused on ramping up infrastructure creation to provide a boost to revive economic growth. The new outlay of 10 Lakh Crore of infrastructure will aid in the development of the country. There will be 100 new projects for Last Mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertilizers sector. To spur investment in infra at states 50-year interest free loan also continues."
“The government announced various investment-based programs across crucial infrastructure sectors, including urban development, logistics, technology ecosystem and green projects. At the same time, focusing on reaching the last mile, empowering fintechs, and tax incentives strengthen its inclusion agenda," said MS Sreedhar.
"The budget's focus on transportation and infra projects with the Urban Infra Development Fund will surely give a boost to the logistics sector," said Shiprocket's CEO & Co-founder, Saahil Goel.
"Plan to set up more airports and heliports, proposed urban infrastructure investment for tier two and three cities will strengthen regional connectivity, which is important to facilitate trade. Exports are key for global trade and for the logistics sector to be globally competitive in order to support India’s target of a $5 trillion economy," said Deepak Shrivastava, MD, Indian Subcontinent, UPS
"Setting up a separate Infra Finance Secretary will also assist us and states in road and highways, this will surely bring in more momentum into execution. The allocation of 10 thousand crore per annum for urban infrastructure in Tier 2 and 3 cities will also prove to be a boon for the country's development. Reducing more than 39k compliances and 3k legal provisions decriminalized for further trust-based government will enhance the ease of doing business. The capital outlay of Rs 2.4 Lakh cr. provided for railways is also a big progressive step," Raj Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Rodic Consultants.
Four hundred new-generation Vande Bharat Express trains will be developed and manufactured during the next three years. More funds will also be provided for new Vande Bharat trains and Vande Bharat 2.0 with sleeper class.
With the introduction of Vande Bharat Express trains, the Indian Railways has entered into a new era of mobility. After Rajdhani Express trains, the Vande Bharat Express is a major transformation in terms of speed and better convenience. The train can achieve a maximum speed of 160-180 kmph due to its faster acceleration and deceleration. Travelling on the blue and white colour train will reduce the journey time by 25 percent to 45 percent.
The Sivok-Rangpo New Broad-Gauge Rail Line Project has crossed the halfway mark and is more than 50 per cent complete. The project will connect Sikkim with the rail network. From West Bengal’s Sivok to Sikkim’s Rangpo, the total length of this railway line will be 44.96 km. 41.55 km rail line will be in WB. In Sikkim, there will be a small 3.41 km stretch.
The USBRL (Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link), undertaken by the Indian Railways to construct a broad-gauge railway line through the Himalayas is now 90 per cent complete, the national carrier informed via its Twitter handle. The project intends to connect the Kashmir region with the rest of the country.
The doubling of railway tracks between Surendranagar and Rajkot is almost done. According to the Ministry of Railways, the work on the 116.17 km long doubling project is 92% complete. Earlier, the deadline for the completion of the project was set till December 2022 but was later postponed to March 2023. With the amount of work that is going on in full swing, it is expected that the Indian Railways will successfully meet the March deadline.
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Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways. In this context, Kavach is being installed to prevent accidents. Its benefits include controlling the speed of trains by automatic application of brakes on the approach of turnouts, repeating of signal aspects in the cab, which is useful for higher speeds and foggy weather, and auto whistling at level crossing gates.
Indian Railways is implementing Kavach in a phased manner. Till December 23, 2022, Kavach has been deployed for 1,455 Route Kms on South Central Railway with 77 numbers of locomotives. Presently, ‘Kavach’ work is in progress on Delhi-Mumbai & Delhi –Howrah corridors (3000 route km).
The newly established Infrastructure Finance Secretariat will assist all stakeholders for more private investment in infrastructure, including railways, roads, urban infrastructure and power, which are predominantly dependent on public resources.
In last year’s Union Budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced, a capital expenditure of Rs 1,37,000 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Railways. According to Sitharaman, 2,000 kilometres of the Indian Railways network will be brought under Kavach as a part of the Modi government’s ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. This announcement was made for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23. Through this technology there is the probability of a single error in 10,000 years.
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Indian Railways has set a target to achieve Net Zero Carbon Emitter by 2030. It has planned to reduce its carbon footprint and dependence on imported fuel thereby saving precious foreign exchange.
Till 2014, Railways' capital expenditure was barely Rs 45,980 crore annually. As more projects are taken on hand and several sources of capital funding are developed, capex will increase further in coming years and the railway system will actually emerge as an engine of national growth.
The government on Wednesday said that a capital outlay of Rs 2.4 lakh crore has been provided for railways, which is highest-ever allocation since 2013-14. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the capital outlay was fixed for 2023-24. The Economic Survey on January 31 has said that the next 10 years will see a very high level of capital expenditure in the railway sector as capacity growth has to be accelerated, so that by 2030 it is ahead of demand. Up to 2014, capex on railway was barely Rs 45,980 crore per annum and consequently, the railway was charecterised by high levels of inefficiency and highly congested routes unable to meet the growing demand. As more projects are taken on hand and several sources of capital funding are developed, capex will increase further in coming years and the railway system will actually emerge as an engine of national growth. (PTI)
Indian Railways has indigenously developed an automatic train protection system - Kavach ((Train Collision Avoidance System). prevent accidents due to human error resulting in Signal Passing at danger and over-speeding.
Govt targeting 5 MT of Green Hydrogen production by 2030: FM Sitharaman (PTI)
Indian Railways' initiative to keep the trains and railway stations has gained increased thrust in the last eight years. The railways have increased the numbers of mechanized cleaning contracts at stations and Coaches in trains, rag picking, and garbage disposal contracts at stations, and On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS) increased in the number of trains.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the Budget adopts seven priorities to guide India through the Amrit Kaal. Sitharaman announced this while presenting the Budget 2023-24 in Parliament. (PTI)
The govt plans to revive 50 additional airports and heliports across the country.
Capital outlay of Rs 2.40 lakh crore for railways. This highest-ever outlay is 9 times higher than made so far.
More private investment in Railways in 2023
Investment in infrastructure will be increased. The capital investment increased by 33% to 10 lakh crores for the third consecutive year.
Indian Railways is moving towards the world's largest electric railway network. In this process, during 2022-23, electrification of 1,973 Route km (2,647 TKM) has been achieved. It is 41 percent higher as compared to the corresponding period of 2021-22. In addition, 1,161 and 296 km of electrification of double lines and sidings respectively have also been completed to date.
Indian Railways is planning to launch more Vande Bharat trains in the coming days.
Expectations of higher allocations are driving the stocks. Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) were quoting at Rs 77.95 apiece on the BSE, up 2.43 per cent from the previous close, while the counter of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) gained 0.91 per cent to Rs 33.35. (PTI)