Budget 2024: What will FM have in store for the Indian Railways?

Meanwhile, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading with meagre losses.

In the Economic Survey 2024 report, which was released yesterday, the government noted that the capital expenditure or capex on Railways 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.

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.

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.

Merger of Rail Budget With Union Budget (A quick lookback)

The government decided to merge the Rail Budget with the Union Budget from budget year 2017-18. The merger of Railway Budget with General Budget was based on the recommendations of the Committee headed by Shri Bibek Debroy, Member, NITI Aayog, and a separate paper on ‘Dispensing with the Railway Budget’ by Shri Bibek Debroy along with Shri Kishore Desai.

Before this, the Rail Budget was presented separately.

In Budget 2023, the fund allocated to the Railways was ₹2.41 lakh crore.