Indian Government announced that, under the 2018-2019 budget, Rs 1.48 trillion (USD 23.3 billion) will be provided to Indian Railways, an increase of 23 per cent compared to the ongoing financial year (2017-2018). A large part of the budget will be allocated for capacity expansion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. “We have made an all – time high allocation to rail and road sectors. We are committed to further enhance public investment,” Arun Jaitley said.
The minister proposed the doubling of 18,000 km of lines and to eliminate capacity constraints, gauge conversion projects are implemented, with a priority on 5000 km of lines. By the end of this year, electrification works should be completed for 4000 km lines. Also, the priorities are set for 36,000 km of track renewal works, for the elimination of 4,267 railway crossings on broad gauge lines, and for the redevelopment of 600 railway stations.
Regarding to rolling stock, the budget paper says that 12000 wagons, 5160 coaches and 700 locomotives are being procured during 2018-2019.
The minister said that new world-class train sets are being manufactured at Integral Coach factory in Chennai. The first trains are scheduled to be rolled out in financial year 2019.
In addition, under the budget, the suburban rail network of two big cities will be expanded. Thus, in Bengaluru 160 km of new lines will be constructed and in Mumbai, the authorities plan to extend it by 150 km and the duplication of 90 km of existing system.
To encourage the high-speed rail projects, a rail institute will be set up a Railway University at Vadodara, in Gujarat state. Currently, Mumbai – Ahmedabad line is country’s first high-speed rail project.
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