PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, July 24: The Centre has placed a special emphasis on making the Indian Railways world-class.
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament on Tuesday. For the current FY 2024-25, the government has allocated record Capex of Rs. 2,62,200 crores for railways. The gross budgetary support is to the tune of Rs 2,52,200 crores for Railways during 2024-25.
But, this year’s railway budget seems to have ignored Jharkhand as no new infrastructure projects have been announced.
Railways continue to get boost: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronic & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw had said at a press conference in New Delhi yesterday that the economy is much more resilient today and is on a strong footing than in the past.
Commenting on the Union Budget he had said that the budget presented by the Finance Minister is a continuation of the economic policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on inclusive growth that has been the mainstay of this government in the last ten years.
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He also thanked the Prime Minister and Finance Minister for the record allocation of Rs 2,62,200 Cr. for Railways.
“A significant fund has been earmarked for safety-related activities in Railways. In the third term of this government, Railways has continued to get a boost,” the railway minister said to media men.
Railways have also achieved several milestones in infrastructure. In past 10 years, Indian Railways commissioned 31,180 track km.
Three Economic Railway Corridors identified
Railways have adopted a new approach for infrastructure development. Three Economic Railway Corridors- Energy, Mineral and Cement corridors (192 Projects); Port connectivity corridors (42 Projects) and High Traffic Density corridors (200 Projects) have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti Mission for enabling Multi-Modal connectivity.
Capacity enhancement, decongestion of high-density networks, achieving reduction in logistics cost in the country, enhancing passenger experience and their safety remains the priority areas for the government.
“We went through the budget but failed to get any mention about Jharkhand. We had several expectations be it infrastructure development, new trains or passenger amenities for Jharkhand in this year’s budget. We feel deprived. Jharkhand seems to have been neglected, ” ruled a senior functionary of the Chhotanagpur Passenger Association.
Funds for industrial development
Notably, in this year’s budget, additional funds have been allocated to promote industrial development.
These funds will support the essential infrastructure needed to develop industrial clusters at strategic nodes: Kopparthy on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, Orvakal on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor in Andhra Pradesh, and Gaya on the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor in Bihar. This initiative aims to catalyze industrial growth in the eastern region of India.
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