In a bid to boost Mumbai Railways’ infrastructure, the Union Budget 2022-23 has allocated an amount of Rs 577.5 crore for carrying out various ambitious railway infrastructure projects under the Mumbai Urban Transport Projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. These MUTP projects are being implemented by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation in the Mumbai division. Last year, an amount of Rs 650 crore was allocated for this but later, the amount was revised to nearly Rs 474 crore. The projects under MUTP, according to an IE report, include procurement and introduction of as many as 247 AC local trains, Commutation-based Control system as well as new corridors in Navi Mumbai and Palghar.

The Union Budget also allocated an investment of Rs 5,000 crore through Extra Budgetary Resources (Partnership) for construction of the Centre’s Bullet train project between the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Besides, Rs 19,102 crore has been allocated in the budget for National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), which is building the first high-speed train project. According to an NHSRCL official, the investment of Rs 5000 crore through Extra Budgetary Resources for the Bullet Train is likely to be contributed by the state government of Maharashtra. As a mission to achieve a travel time of 12 hours between Delhi and Mumbai, Rs 450 crore has been allocated in the budget for increasing the speed of the existing New Delhi-Mumbai route (including Vadodara-Ahmedabad) to 160 km per hour/200 km per hour.

Ravi Agarwal, MRVC’s Chief Managing Director was quoted in the report saying it is a progressive budget for Indian Railways and especially for Mumbaikars. An amount of Rs 577.5 crores have been allocated to MRVC for various MUTP works. According to him, this will further give impetus to the ongoing works as well as new works planned during the year by MRVC for the Central Railway and Western Railway zones. According to the pink book which was released by the national transporter late in the evening on Wednesday, for the infra projects under MUTP, the state government also contributes 50% of share and the total amount of projects under the MUTP will be Rs 1,155 crore.

Also, Rs 185 crore has been allocated for MUTP phase-2, Rs 190 crore allocated for MUTP-3 and Rs 200 crore allocated for MUTP-3A. Besides, an amount of Rs 2.5 crore has been allocated for running 12-coach EMU trains on Mumbai Harbour corridor between CSMT and Panvel/Andheri. The budget has also allocated Rs 20 crore for the extension of CSMT’s platform number 10, 11, 12, and 13 to accommodate 24-coach trains. A token amount, for the first time, has also been allocated for several new rail lines in Maharashtra, including the most awaited Pune-Nasik project of 265 kms. Besides, an amount of Rs 150 crore has been allocated in the budget for Belapur-Seawood-Uran’s rail line that will offer better connectivity to areas around Navi Mumbai where a new international airport is coming up.