PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, February 2: There has been a remarkable increase in budget grant for railways in Jharkhand and its two neighbouring states – Odisha and West Bengal in 2024-25.
Addressing South Eastern Railway authorities in Kolkata through a video conferencing facility from New Delhi on Thursday, Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that there has been a complete transformation of railways in the last 10 years and highlighted the interim budget grants pertaining to railways in different states for the current financial year.
Rs 7,234 crore for Jharkhand
In this current budget, the total outlay for railways modernization and expansion in Jharkhand is Rs. 7,234 crores against the average outlay of Rs 457 crores during 2009 to 2014.
The budget allocation for 2024-25 is 15 times (approx.) more than the average budget allocation of 2009-14.
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Rs 13,810 crore for West Bengal
There has been a record allocation of Rs.13,810 crores for West Bengal against the average allocation of Rs.4,380 crores during the period from 2009 to 2014.
The budget allocation for 2024-25 is three times (approx.) more than the average budget allocation of 2009-14.
Rs 10,536 crore for Odisha
For Odisha, there has been a total allocation of Rs.10,536 crores for 2024-25 against the average outlay of Rs.838 crores during 2009 to 2014.
The budget allocation of 2024-25 is 12 times (approx.) more than the average budget allocation of 2009-14.
Three railway corridor programs
Three major railway corridor programs will be implemented. They include – energy, mineral and cement corridor; port-connectivity corridor and high-traffic density corridor.
These railway corridors will improve logistics efficiency, reduce cost, and will improve safety for passenger trains as well.
Moreover, 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat standards.
Anil Kumar Mishra, general manager, South Eastern Railway was present at SER Headquarters in Garden Reach during the video conference, said officials.
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