Budget 2022: What Do Indian Railways Expect From Upcoming Budget?

Budget 2022 Expectations: The centre can propose electrification of 7,000 km of rail track in a step forward to achieve 100 per cent electrification by 2023. This will be coupled with the more railway lines in the states with upcoming elections.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the Union Budget 2022-23 tomorrow. According to an earlier report by Mint, the budget allocation for railways may see a major uptick in the budget allocation. The report stated that the railways might see a 20 per cent rise in FY22 estimates.

This would take up the allocation to Rs 2.5 trillion. The railways are planning to modernise their fleet and introduce faster and new-age trains. In the previous year, the railway allocation was highest till date, standing at Rs 2.15 trillion. This year it is expected to be higher.

This will be the sixth joint budget after the merger of Rail Budget with Union Budget in 2017.

Electrification On Tracks

According to media reports, the centre can also propose electrification of 7,000 km of rail track in a step forward to achieve 100 per cent electrification by 2023. This will be coupled with the more railway lines in the states with upcoming elections.

For the lower and middle class, Rail Budget is of much importance because it is the lifeline of the country. Also, the centre may announce more rails connecting the metro cities to the tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India.

New Bullet Trains May Be Announced

The centre can also announce a bullet train between New Delhi and Varanasi. Along with this, an additional bullet train may also be announced between Delhi and Howrah. For the unversed, work on the first bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is underway.

Also, the centre may announce semi high-speed trains on the Golden Quadrilateral route. These trains will be like Vande Bharat Express with a speed of 180-200 kph.

Focus On Northeast

In the Rail Budget, the Centre will also be focusing on the expansion of the rail network in the Northeast region. In the last Budget also, the Finance Minister had announced plans to build new DFC corridors for routes like East Coast, East-West and North-South. Just before the Manipur elections, for the first time since Independence, a goods train reached Rani Gaidinliu railway station in the Tamenglong district of Manipur.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has recently taken stock of the Jiribam-Imphal new line project in Manipur through an aerial survey. The project includes the longest tunnel in the country, which will connect Guwahati and Imphal. Vaishnaw had said that Rs 7,000 crore has been allocated this year for various rail projects in the Northeast.

(With inputs from IANS)