India will see a massive transformation in railways with 200 new Vande Bharat trains, 100 Amrit Bharat trains, 50 Namo Bharat rapid rail and 17,500 general non-AC coaches expected to be launched in the next two to three years, the ministry said, as it called the union budget “amazing” with an allocation of Rs 2.52 lakh crore for the financial year (FY) 2025-26.
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said new trains and modern coaches will go a long way in serving the middle-class. “This year’s budget mentions infrastructure development projects of railways to the order of Rs 4.60 lakh crore. Focusing on safety, the budget allocates Rs 1.16 lakh crore for expenditure in this year to augment the safety of Indian Railways through various projects,” he said.
Talking to the media in Rail Bhawan, after the presentation of the budget in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw also said that it not only seeks to create employment by means of investment, but gives big relief to the middle class with a reduced income tax burden.
Railways will mobilise an additional Rs 3,000 crore from its internal resources, he said.
Reimbursement of losses on the operation of strategic lines has been kept at Rs 2,739.18 crore in Budget Estimate 2025-26 as against Rs 2,602.81 crore in last fiscal’s revised estimates 2024-25.
An amount of Rs 706 crore is provided in this fiscal year towards debt servicing of market borrowings for national projects.
With this, the net revenue expenditure of Indian Railways is placed at Rs 3,02,100 crore in this year’s budget estimate as against Rs 2,79,000 crore in the revised estimate of the last fiscal.