Image Source : KONKAN RAILWAYS Representative image
Budget 2025: There are high expectations for significant announcements regarding the railway sector in the upcoming Union Budget to be presented by the Narendra Modi government on February 1. Since the formation of the BJP government at the Center in the year 2014, many big changes have been made to the budget. In 2017-18, then-Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made a major shift by merging the railway budget with the general budget. Since then, the railway budget has been presented alongside the general budget.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 on February 1. This will be the second budget after PM Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister for the third time. The first full budget of PM Modi’s third term was presented in July last year, after he formed the government along with his allies in June 2024.
Railways allocation expected to touch Rs 3 lakh crore
Looking at the current development model of the country, it is expected that this time the government can allocate a record budget for the railways. In the budget presented on July 23 last year, the government had made a record allocation of about Rs 2,62,200 crore for the railways. Out of which, 80 percent of the amount has been spent so far.
Experts believe that this time the government can increase the railway budget by 15 to 20 per cent, which will take the budget allocated for the railways to around Rs 3 lakh crore.
Special focus on THESE projects
The government can focus on the use of AI for other operational works like the bullet train project, the Kavach system and ticketing. The government may say something about installing armor systems in more and more trains to prevent rail accidents. Apart from this, there will also be a focus on Amrit Bharat Station Yojana and Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal to attract private sector investment in cargo infrastructure. According to reports, the government is working on putting 90 new Vande Bharat train sets into service. Along with this, orders are also to be given for large coaches of goods trains.
The budget of the bullet train may be increased in Budget 2025. There may be an announcement towards completing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSR) at a fast pace. Additionally, new Vande Bharat sleeper and Amrit Bharat Express trains may be announced in this budget. According to some media reports, this time 10 Vande Bharat sleeper and 100 Amrit Bharat Express trains may be announced in the budget.
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