NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The Ministry of Railways has been allocated a Gross Budget Support (GBS) of ₹ 2,40,000 crore for Capital Expenditure during the financial year 2023-24. The GBS comprises ₹ 1,85,000 crore under Capital, ₹ 45,000 crore under Railway Safety Fund, and ₹ 10,000 crore as a contribution towards Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh.
Out of the Gross Budgetary Support, a sum of ₹ 31,850 crore has been allocated to the Plan head “New Lines” for the financial year 2023-24. The Zone-wise fund allocation for new line projects is provided in the table below. The highest amount of ₹ 11,617.30 crore has been allocated to the Northern Railways for new line projects.
Table: Gross Budgetary Support 2023-24 for New Line Projects
| Railways | Gross Budgetary Support 2023-24 for New Line Projects (in crores) |
| Central | 1234.95 |
| Eastern | 432.95 |
| Northern | 11617.30 |
| North Eastern | 792.00 |
| Northeast Frontier | 6591.00 |
| Southern | 1158.15 |
| South Central | 819.50 |
| South Eastern | 14.90 |
| Western | 1011.70 |
| East Central | 1518.02 |
| East Coast | 1984.00 |
| North Central | 2.13 |
| North Western | 861.65 |
| South East Central | 389.00 |
| South Western | 1408.35 |
| West Central | 2014.40 |
| Total | 31850.00 |
The Ministry has also made a provision of ₹ 13,150 crore out of the Gross Budgetary Support for the Plan head “Customer Amenities” for the financial year 2023-24. As part of this, the development of 35 hydrogen fuel cell-based trains for various heritage/hill routes at a cost of ₹ 2800 crore has been included in the budget. The budget also includes the setting up of Hydrogen Infrastructure for heritage routes at a cost of ₹ 600 crores.
The Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, provided this information in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
