Railway stocks will be in focus on Wednesday morning, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presided over the second meeting to evaluate capex for the Ministry of Railways in New Delhi. Sitharaman stated that the government should hasten the conversion of 40,000 regular rail bogies to Vande Bharat standards. This was revealed in the Interim Budget for 2024-25.
She instructed ministry personnel to ensure that the capex target for FY 2024-25 is met on schedule, building on the momentum gained during the Modi government's first 100 days.
In response, Sitharaman was notified by ministry representatives that Kavach-related construction is underway on more than 3000 RKm (route kilometers) of the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai sections.
The Budget for 2024–2025 included three Economic Railway Corridors Programmes under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling multi-modal connectivity, including energy, mineral, and cement corridors; port connectivity corridors; and high traffic density corridors. This is part of an effort to improve logistics efficiency and lower logistics costs associated with rail movement.
Officials from the rail ministry notified Sitharaman that 434 railway projects totaling 40,900 km and a total investment plan of Rs 11.16 lakh crore had been identified under three Economic Corridors.
There are now 55 projects under these corridors that have been approved, totaling 5,723 km in length and an investment plan of Rs 1.03 lakh crore. According to the officials, 101 projects are scheduled for appraisal as part of the corridor initiative this year.
In keeping with the budgetary capital spending, the Union Finance Minister emphasized the significance of enhancing the "ease of living" for residents through the doubling and electrification of current railway tracks in addition to the building of new railway lines.
Regarding railroads, the revised estimate of Rs 2.4 lakh crore for FY24 was replaced with a capital allocation of Rs 2.55 lakh crore for FY25. The majority of the Rs 1.3 lakh crore budget has been set out for rolling stocks, new lines, track renewals and doubling, and electrification. For KEC International Ltd., Siemens Ltd., RVNL Ltd., RITES Ltd., KPIL IRCON International Ltd., BEML Ltd., Titagarh Rail, Texmaco, and other EPC businesses, among others, the announcements were viewed as net positive.
