In a meeting with senior Railway Ministry officials, Sitharaman asked them to expedite the implementation of the indigenous Automatic Train Protection System, or the so-called kavach systemexpand the electrification of railway lines and lay new lines, in line with the capital expenditure planned in the 2024-25 Budget, according to a Ministry of Finance statement.
This was the second in a series of meetings scheduled to review capital expenditure and resulting asset creation across all ministries.
Earlier this month, he held meetings with the ministries of roads, transport and highways and communications. Corridor projects were identified
Ministry officials informed Sitharaman that 434 railway projects have been identified in three economic corridors which are expected to stretch over a total of 40,900 km and involve investments of Rs 11.16 trillion.
The budget for 2024-25 envisaged three rail corridor programmes for multi-modal connectivity. These include a power, minerals and cement corridor; a port connectivity corridor; and a high traffic density corridor. Officials also told the minister that 55 projects have been approved under the corridors so far. These involve a length of 5,723 km and an investment plan of Rs 1.03 lakh crore. Similarly, Kavach-related works are in progress on over 3,000 km of route along the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai sections, the statement said.
Budgetary capital expenditure for railways has been increased by 5% annually to a record Rs 2.52 trillion for 2024-25. The Centre’s overall capital expenditure has increased sharply every year in the wake of the pandemic as the government has banked heavily on its high multiplier effect to spur economic growth.
The allocation for 2024-25 has been increased by 17.1% over the previous year to a record Rs 11.11 trillion.
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