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Business News/ Budget / Budget Expectations/  Next 10 years to see very high level of capex in railway sector: Economic Survey
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Next 10 years to see very high level of capex in railway sector: Economic Survey

Post 2014, a conscious effort was made to improve the railway sector by substantially increasing the capex, according to Economic Survey 2021-22

The capex outlay for 2021-22 is ₹2,15,000 crore which is more than five times the 2014 level.Premium
The capex outlay for 2021-22 is 2,15,000 crore which is more than five times the 2014 level.

The next 10 years will see a very high level of capital expenditure in the railway sector as capacity growth has to be accelerated, so that by 2030 it is ahead of demand, as per the Economic Survey.

Up to 2014, capex on railway was barely 45,980 crore per annum and consequently, the railway was charecterised by high levels of inefficiency and highly congested routes unable to meet the growing demand.

Post 2014, a conscious effort was made to improve the railway sector by substantially increasing the capex, according to Economic Survey 2021-22.

The capex outlay for 2021-22 is 2,15,000 crore which is more than five times the 2014 level. As more projects are taken on hand and several sources of capital funding are developed, capex will increase further in coming years and the railway system will actually emerge as an engine of national growth.

The National Rail Plan lays down the road map for capacity expansion of the railway network by 2030 to cater to growth up to 2050. It envisages the creation of a future ready railway system that is able to not only meet the passenger demand but also increase the modal share of railways in freight to 40-45 per cent from the present level of 26-27 per cent.

The target of 40-45 per cent modal share for railways is necessary from the perspective of sustainability and also from the national commitments made globally for reducing emission levels.

Unlike growth, which is linear, capacity grows in surges (sawtooth curve) depending on project completion timelines.

The National Rail Plan provides a pipeline of projects, which on completion will increase railway capacity to capture 45 per cent of freight traffic. Since the railway is already having a large number of sanctioned projects that need to be completed before taking up new projects, it has been planned to increase railway capacity in two surges.

The first surge is to be provided by the Vision 2024 plan to prioritise and complete sanctioned projects so that railway capacity does not fall far behind the targeted modal share such that by the time capacity is finally created, the traffic would have shifted to another mode. To prevent further bleeding away of modal share, railway capacity enhancing projects have been categorised as super critical and critical.

"58 projects have been identified as Super Critical and are targeted for completion by December 2022. 68 projects have been identified as critical and have been targeted for completion by March 2024. These projects are focussed at increasing capacity on routes that serve major mineral, industrial hubs along with ports and major consumption centres," it said.

In addition to these critical projects, the Ministry of Railway has also targeted 100 per cent electrification of its network by December 2023 upgrading Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata corridors to 160 kmph and also elimination of level crossings on the Golden Quadrilateral/Golden Diagonal routes.

On completion of Vision 2024 projects, in the second half of the decade, the aim is to commission new Dedicated Freight Corridors and also High Speed Passenger Corridors, besides multitracking and signalling upgradation of congested routes.

Indian Railways has been able to move millions of people and also able to keep national supply chain running, despite facing the pandemic-related challenges, the Survey said.      

With a continuing focus on safety of passengers, the number of consequential train accidents has come down from 59 in 2018-19 to 55 in 2019-20 (pre-Covid) and further to 22 in 2020-21.          

"Despite facing the unprecedented COVID related challenges Indian railways has not only been able to move millions of people but also able to keep national supply chain running," the Survey said.             It said that despite the pandemic, revenue earning freight loading (excluding loading by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) was 1230.9 million tonne in 2020-21 as compared to 1208.4 million tonne during 2019-20.              

The Survey noted that passengers originating were 1250 million in 2020-21 as compared to 8086 million in 2019-20.            

In addition, it said in order to strengthen the agriculture sector, as on December 31, 2021 the railway operated 1,841 Kisan Rail services, transporting approximately 6.0 lakh tonne of perishables, including fruits and vegetables.               

The  Survey also pointed out that capex (capital expenditure ) has been increased substantially for the railways from an average annual capex during 2009-14 of 5,980 crore to 2,15,058 crore during 2021-22 (BE) .             

The Survey said average 1835 track km per year of new track length has been added through new-line and multi-tracking projects during 2014-2021 as compared to the average 720 track km per day during 2009-14.

The railway is also adopting indigenous new technology such as KAVACH, Vande Bharat trains and redevelopment of stations to have safe and better journey experience, it added.

According to the Survey, during 2020-21, the railway carried 1.23 billion tonne of freight and 1.25 billion passengers.           

Being the third largest network in the world under single management and with over 68,102 route kilometre, the railway strives to provide safe, efficient, competitive and world class transport system. PTI SID BKS SID ANU ANU

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Published: 31 Jan 2022, 04:46 PM IST
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