With record outlay in Budget 2021, Indian Railways to focus on faster trains, better passenger facilities

Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways gets a record outlay of Rs 1,10,055 crore, of which an amount of Rs 1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure, in the Union Budget 2021-22, which was presented by Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament yesterday. According to the Railway Ministry, the thrust of Annual Plan 2021-22 is on development of railway infrastructure, throughput enhancement, augmentation of speed of trains, signaling systems, development of terminal facilities, improvement of passengers’ facilities and amenities, safety works of road over bridges, road under bridges, etc. Take a look at the plan heads allotted highest ever outlays in BE 2021-22:

• The plan head for New Lines was Rs 26,971 crore in BE 2020-21 and Rs 40,932 crore in BE 2021-22, registering an increase of 52 per cent
• The plan head for Doubling was Rs 21,545 crore in BE 2020-21 and Rs 26,116 crore in BE 2021-22, with an increase of 21 per cent
• The plan head for Traffic Facilities was Rs 2,058 crore in BE 2020-21 and Rs 5,263 crore in BE 2021-22, with an increase of 156 per cent
• The plan head for ROB/RUBs was Rs 6,204 crore in BE 2020-21 and Rs 7,122 crore in BE 2021-22, registering an increase of 15 per cent

According to the Railway Ministry, national projects of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and North Eastern region have been allocated the highest ever outlay of Rs 12,985 crore in BE 2021-22 against the RE 2020-21 of Rs 7,535 crore i.e. increase of 72 per cent. Besides, Rs 37,270 crore of GBS has been allocated for investment in PSU/JV/SPVs, with allocation for the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) of Rs 16,086 crore, National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) of an amount of Rs 14,000 crore as well as Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) of Rs 900 crore.