FM Sitharaman announced that in next 3 years, railways will manufacture 400 Vande Bharat trains, while 100 greenfield multimodal cargo terminals will also be constructed.
New Delhi: The rail industry is upbeat about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2022-23 proposals for the Indian Railways (IR), for understandable reasons.
Over the next three years, IR will manufacture 400 aluminium-bodied Vande Bharat trains (160 kmph semi-high speed trains), while 100 greenfield multimodal cargo terminals will also be constructed.
A definitive commitment towards upgrading signalling systems has also been accounted for in the Budget proposals, with Sitharaman announcing that 2,000 km of tracks will get covered under the Train Collision Avoidance System during the fiscal.
The Budget proposals also provide for higher spending towards developing an integrated urban transport system. The upshot of all this: IR will be spending more on rolling stock acquisition, on infrastructure development, and towards technological upgrade.
The statistics are impressive: With a capital outlay of Rs 2.45 lakh crore, the figure is substantially higher than last year’s outlay of Rs 2.15 lakh crore. What is also significant about Budget 2022-23 is that the railways has announced clear intentions of taking the privatisation plunge.
Industry captains are enthused.
“It is a progressive and growth-oriented budget that will have a huge multiplier effect on the economy; incentivising faster implementation of projects. The policy aimed at standardisation of metro design systems will provide the much-needed stability to manufacturers,” said Alstom India managing director Alain Spohr.
“The initiatives for the rail sector are transformative, as they outline the future engines of growth,” added Dipankar Ghosh, managing director, Knorr Bremse (India).
Talgo India Managing Director Subrata Nath had a similar take. “The Budget is very positive from the rolling stock and passenger point of view. We hope IR also supports tilting technology coaches, as these can significantly add to speeds,” Nath said.
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