Economic Survey 2024: Capital expenditure on Railways jumped 77% in last 5 years

The capital expenditure on Railways has increased by 77% over the past five years (₹2.62 lakh crore in FY24) with significant investments in the construction of new lines, gauge conversion, and doubling, said the Economic Survey 2024 report.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey, which includes a detailed assessment of the state of Indian economy, before the Parliament at 12 noon on Monday, July 22, a day ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget.

The report further said that Railways achieved its highest-ever production for both locomotives and wagons in FY24. "Fifty one pairs of Vande Bharat have been introduced until March 2024. The fast pace of infrastructure augmentation has been the result of a substantial increase in financial allocation along with close project monitoring and regular follow-up with stakeholders for expeditious land acquisition and clearances," the report added.

Railways is also planning to introduce Vande metro trainset coaches with features such as sealed wider gangways, centrally controlled automatic sliding doors, CCTVs for safety and surveillance, route map indicator, passenger information & infotainment system, fire detection system and aerosol-based fire suppression system. The first lot is expected to be turned out in FY25.

What lies ahead?

The report added that projects for three major corridors viz. (1) High-traffic density corridors, (2) Energy, Mineral and Cement Corridors and (3) Rail Sagar (port connectivity) corridors are also planned to reduce logistics cost and carbon footprint. Railways has also planned to reduce its carbon footprint primarily through sourcing its energy requirements through renewable energy sources.

Key Focus Areas

The key focus areas for Railways include fast capacity augmentation, modernisation of rolling stock and maintenance, improving quality of services and energy efficiency.