Indian Railways is a very large network. The announcements about this in the budget are very important. Let’s know what the Railways got in the budget this time. The Finance Minister said in her budget speech that 550 railway stations have been provided a Wi-Fi facility. She said, 27 thousand kilometers of railway track will be electrified. In addition, she spoke of five new measures. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday presented the 2020 General Budget in the Lok Sabha and said there is a plan by the Government of India to connect famous destinations through more trains like Tejas.
- The solar power grid will be built along the railroad
- 150 trains will start via a public-private partnership.
- Many trains like Tejas will be run.
- The 148 km Bangalore suburban train system will be built, the central government will pay 25%.
- 18 thousand 600 crores will be spent on these measures.
What were the expectations?
The budget was expected to increase by 10 to 15% in the financial assistance given to the Railways this time. In addition, several steps were also expected to be announced to increase private investment in railways. Along with this, there were also speculations about announcing 50 stations with private companies to make world-class facilities in it.
Sources were of the view that this time the Railways sought budgetary support of around one lakh crore rupees from the Finance Ministry, but the Ministry of Finance can provide budgetary support to Railways from Rs 75,000 crores to 80,000 crores.
BUDGET 2020: BIGGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
In this budget, several schemes can also be announced to increase private investment in railways. A number of changes can be made in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to encourage private investment in railways.