Railways: Railways may demand Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the upcoming budget, 300-400 new Vande Bharat trains expected to be announced
Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is one of the main sources of income for the capital expenditure of the country’s largest transport medium Railways. It borrows from other sources and markets, including the dedicated branch IRFC and multilateral agencies, in addition to increasing private investment in railways through the PPP model.
Highlights
⏩ Railways may seek budgetary support of around Rs 1.5 trillion for the upcoming financial year.
⏩ 300-400 Vande Bharat trains may be announced in the budget for the financial year 2023-24.
⏩ The Sleeper Vande Bharat train is likely to start in early 2024.
New Delhi. Railways can demand gross budgetary support of about Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the upcoming financial year 2023-24. This is Rs 1.37 trillion more than the expenditure of the budget for the current financial year. According to information received from official sources, Railways will demand more budget for expansion and betterment of its services.
Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is one of the main sources of income for the capital expenditure of the country’s largest transport medium Railways. It borrows from other sources and markets, including the dedicated branch IRFC and multilateral agencies, in addition to increasing private investment in railways through the PPP model. Investment in railway projects from the Union budget increased by 91% to Rs 88,548 crore in the first half of the current financial year.
Around 300 to 400 Vande Bharat trains are expected to be announced in the 2023-24 budget as part of the Indian Railways’ plan to modernize its rolling stock. It is included in the railway fleet of 400 such trains announced this year. About 100 Vande Bharat trains are also expected to be manufactured in the financial year 2023-24. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Budget 2022-23 that 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains would be developed and manufactured during the next three years.
Preparation to increase the speed of trains with the laying of a new track
The Railway Minister had said that in 2022-23, a network of 2,000 km would be brought under indigenous world-class technology armor for safety and capacity enhancement. Indian Railways is preparing an ambitious road map to gradually increase the maximum speed of trains to 160 km per hour along with laying about 100,000 km of new track in the next 20 to 25 years. Sources say that the railways will also focus on laying new lines along with the expansion of automatic signaling and automatic train protection (ATP) system called Kavach.
The Sleeper Vande Bharat train is likely to start in early 2024. Serial production of Vande Bharat trains has started from October this year and we expect production to ramp up by January or February 2023. The railways are also looking forward to becoming an exporter of indigenously developed semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains by 2026 and are also working on a standard gauge version of the train.
