NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while announcing the Budget 2019, said from 2018-30 railway will require Rs 50 lakh crore investment.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) will be used to unleash faster development and delivery of passenger freight services. Rail and metro projects for 300 km have also been approved.
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There was speculation that the government was exploring ways to involve private players in railways inviting criticism from the Opposition.
The government envisions using rivers for cargo transport as it will help decongest roads and railways Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Railway Budget 2019 Highlights
- Indian Railways requires Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 to 2030 to complete the sanctioned projects.
- 657 kilometres of metro rail network have become operational.
- PPP to be encouraged
- All manned level crossings to be eliminated
- Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Howrah travel time to come down by 5 hours.
- Corporization of production units
- Jerk-free rides on Indian Railways
- Private sector to run some trains
- Beautiful railway stations
- Delhi-Lucknow, Mumbai-Shirdi trains revamp
- The wait for bullet train over by 2023
- Indian Railways to be an enabler for $5 trillion dream
- Dedicated Freight Corridors
- Focus on safe railway travel
- Waterways to decongest Indian Railways
- PPP in Indian Railways
- India is looking to adopt the European signalling infrastructure for safer yet faster movement of passenger trains
- Indian Railways is focusing on green energy
- PPP in Metro rail initiatives
- SPVs for suburban projects
- Indian Railways ties up with France
- World-class stations
- Indian Railways to be a big growth driver
Railways will also be encouraged to invest more in suburban railways through SPV structures such as Rapid Regional Transport System (RRTS). A massive program of railway station modernization will also be launched this year.
It was expected that the Narendra Modi government would maintain its focus on aggressive development of transportation infrastructure by infusing in major programs it introduced last year — that includes railway station redevelopment programme, inland waterways development, the Namami Gange project, the Swachh Bharat Mission, UDAN (Airports), metro rail and Smart Cities (Urban Infra). In the previous budget, the government promised to introduce bullet trains, revamp of signalling systems, CCTV, Wi-Fi, escalators and other such services at stations, in the massive budget boost wherein they allocated Rs 1.48 lakh crore for the Indian railways.
The total allocated capital expenditure for 2018-19 is Rs 1,48,528 crore which is a 24% increase from the 2017-18 revised estimates Rs 1,20,000 crore.
