In his first budget speech, India’s railway minister Suresh Prabhu, largely staying away from populism, focused on the difficult job of turning around the gargantuan transportation network.
Underlining a “vicious cycle of under-investment,” Prabhu explained that his strategy would be to improve capacity on the railway’s existing networks before drawing up more ambitious growth plans.
As a part of this, the Narendra Modi-led government wants to invest Rs8.5 lakh crore ($138 billion) between now and 2019 on critical projects to rebuild the railway’s ageing infrastructure, introduce new technology and improve passenger amenities.
Here’s the list of where that money is planned to be spent:
| Proposed investments | Cost (in Rs crore) |
|---|---|
| Network decongestion (including dedicated freight corridors, electrification, doubling) | 1,99,320 |
| Network expansion (including electrification) | 1,93,000 |
| Safety (track renewal, bridges, signalling and telecom) | 1,27,000 |
| Rolling stock (locomotives, coaches, wagons) | 1,02,000 |
| Station redevelopment and logistic parks | 1,00,000 |
| High speed rail and elevated corridor | 65,000 |
| National projects (North Eastern and Kashmir connectivity projects) | 39,000 |
| Passenger amenities | 12,500 |
| Information technology and research | 5,000 |
| Other projects | 13,200 |