Indian Railway Budget Highlights
Last year December, the Indian Railway had announced a draft National Rail Plan. The Budget for Financial Year 2025 might include allocations and proposals to supplement this plan.
During the Budget, the government might also announce new high-speed rail corridors.
Record Outlay of Rs 1,10,055 Crore for Railways, of which Rs1,07,100 Crore for Capital Expenditure
National Rail Plan for India to create “Future Ready” Railway System by 2030
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC expected to be commissioned by June 2025
Future DFC projects namely East Coast Corridor, East-West Corridor and North-South Corridor to be undertaken
Introduction of more vista dome LHB coaches on tourist routes
Indigenously developed automatic train protection system for high density network and highly utilized network routes
State wise Budget allocation India 2025 | State wise Budget Allocation India 2025-22
Indian Railways has received a record outlay of Rs.1,10,055 crore, of which Rs.1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure. This record outlay was announced by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2025-22 in the Parliament today. Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030.
Smt. Sitharaman said, “Bringing down the logistic costs for our industry is at the core of our strategy to enable ‘Make in India’.” The Finance Minister announced that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC are expected to be commissioned by June 2025.
Further, the Finance Minister proposed the following additional initiatives to be taken up:
- The Sonnagar – Gomoh Section (263.7 km) of Eastern DFC will be taken up in PPP mode in 2025-22. Gomoh-Dankuni section of 274.3 km will also be taken up in short succession.
- Future dedicated freight corridor projects namely East Coast corridor from Kharagpur to Vijayawada, East-West Corridor from Bhusaval to Kharagpur to Dankuni and North-South corridor from Itarsi to Vijayawada will be undertaken. Detailed Project Reports will be undertaken in the first phase.
- 100% electrification of Broad-Gauge routes will be completed by December, 2025. Broad Gauge Route Kilometers (RKM) electrified is expected to reach 46,000 RKM i.e., 72% by end of 2025 from 41,548 RKM on 1st Oct 2025.Passenger Convenience and Safety
Smt. Sitharaman also proposed following measures for passenger convenience and safety:
- Introduction of the aesthetically designed Vista Dome LHB coach on tourist routes to give a better travel experience to passengers.
- High density network and highly utilized network routes of Indian railways will be provided with an indigenously developed automatic train protection system that eliminates train collision due to human error.
Railways has now highest ever total Plan capex of Rs. 2,15,058 Crores this year with Rs. 7,500 Crores from internal resources, Rs. 1,00,258 Crores from extra budgetary resources and Rs. 1,07,100 Crores coming from capital expenditure allocation given in the General Budget
In BE 2025-21, the total capex was Rs. 161042 Crores. The Capex in BE 2025-22 is Rs.54,016 Crores (33%) higher than BE 2025-21
Funds allocated will go to boost Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission and utilized towards completion of vital infrastructure projects, capacity building passengers amenities and safety enhancement
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC expected to be commissioned by June 2025. Future DFC projects namely East Coast Corridor, East-West Corridor and North-South Corridor to be undertaken as well
Introduction of more Vista dome LHB coaches on tourist routes
Indigenously developed automatic train protection system for high density network and highly utilized networks
Indian Railways has now highest ever total Plan capex of Rs. 2,15,058 Crores this year with Rs. 7,500 Crores from internal resources, Rs. 1,00,258 Crores from extra budgetary resources and Rs. 1,07,100 Crores for capital expenditure allocation given in the General Budget.
Indian Railways received a record outlay of Rs 1,10,055crore, of which Rs 1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure in the Union Budget 2021-22 presented in the Parliament today.
The Gross Budgetary allocation is Rs. 37,050 cr (53%) higher than BE 2025-21. Inspite of the covid, this is remarkable vindication of the progress being made being undertaken Infrastructure projects in Indian Railways.
With this increase in Capex, Indian Railways will be the driver of Indian economy. The thrust of Annual Plan 2025-22 is on infrastructure development, throughput enhancement, development of terminal facilities, augmentation of speed of trains, signaling systems, improvement of passengers/ users’ amenities, safety works of road over/under bridges etc.
The following plan heads have been allotted highest ever outlays in BE 2025-22 (Rs. in cr)
| Plan head | BE 2025 – 21 | BE 2025 – 22 | Increase over BE 2025 – 21 |
| New Lines | 26971 | 40932 | 52% |
| Doubling | 21545 | 26116 | 21% |
| Traffic Facilities | 2058 | 5263 | 156% |
| ROB/ RUBs | 6204 | 7122 | 15% |
National Projects of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North Eastern region have been allocated highest ever outlay of Rs 12,985 cr. in BE 21-22 against the RE 20-21 of Rs 7535 cr i.e. increase of 72%.. Rs.37,270 cr of GBS allocated for investment in PSU/ JV/ SPVs, with allocation for DFCCIL of Rs. 16,086 cr, NHSRCL of Rs. 14,000 cr and KMRCL of Rs. 900 cr.
Source wise details of BE 2025-22 compared with BE 2025-21 is shown in the following table (Rs. in cr)
| Source | BE 2025 – 21 | BE 2025 – 22 |
| Gross Budgetary Support | 70250 | 107300 |
| Internal Resources | 7500 | 7500 |
| Extra Budgetary Resources | 83292 | 100258 |
| Total Capex | 161042 | 215058 |
Intense monitoring, better management and engagement with all the stake holders is ensuring that work is going on at unprecedented speed at the project sites now. Some projects will be commissioned by March 2025 are Redevelopment of Gandhinagar & Habibganj stations, Ahmedabad – Botad Gauge Conversion (170 km), Pilibhit – Shahjahanpur Gauge Conversion (83 km), Utretia – Raebarelli Doubling (66 km), Ghazipur-Aunihar Doubling (40 km), Ajmer – Bengurgram Doubling ( 47 km), and Nirmali – Sairagarh New Line including Kosi bridge (22 km). Key Railway Electrification projects that are also expected to be completed by March 2025 include: Mumbai – Abu Road, Mumbai – Ratnagiri,Howrah-New Cooch Behar section via Malda, Connectivity to Pipava Port , Ratlam/Mathura-Jaipur and Pune – Satara, Sonipat –Jind.
Last Financial year Indian Railways faced unprecedented Covid related challenges. Passenger services had to be stopped to prevent the spread of the virus. Indian Railways, however, kept the national supply chain running and moved great many number of migrants in the most adverse conditions.
The lockdown period was used as an opportunity by the Railways to complete more than 200 critical maintenance projects including massive track maintenance exercise, overhauling the freight business and fast tracking of the ongoing infrastructure projects like Dedicated Freight Corridors, J&K and North-East connectivity etc. In the post lockdown phase, remarkable revival in IR’s freight loading has been observed especially in the last 5 months, which shows the economic revival in the country as well as modal shift to Railways. This is due to doubling of average speed of freight trains from 23 kmph to 46 kmph, various tariff and non-tariff measures, as well as a first time ever “Freight Business Development Portal” for online booking of freight. The year is likely to close with higher loading over last year.
It may be noted that Indian Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India-2030. This will be for a future ready Railways, wherein infrastructure will be created by 2030, which shall be able to cater to the demand till 2050. NRP which identifies demand and required capacity augmentation needed till 2030 also lays focus on retrieving the modal share for IR to the level of 45% by 2050 with ultimate aim to reduce logistic cost of the economy.
In the budget, it was announced that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC are expected to be commissioned by June 2022. Further, the Finance Minister proposed the following additional initiatives to be taken up:
1. The Sonnagar – Gomoh Section (263.7 km) of Eastern DFC will be taken up in PPP mode in 2025-22. Gomoh-Dankuni section of 274.3 km will also be taken up in short succession.
2. Future dedicated freight corridor projects namely East Coast corridor from Kharagpur to Vijayawada, East-West Corridor from Bhusaval to Kharagpur to Dankuni and North-South corridor from Itarsi to Vijayawada will be undertaken. Detailed Project Reports will be undertaken in the first phase.
3. 100% electrification of Broad-Gauge routes will be completed by December, 2025. Broad Gauge Route Kilometers (RKM) electrified is expected to reach 46,000 RKM i.e., 72% by end of 2025 from 41,548 RKM on 1st Oct 2025.
While Focusing on Passenger Convenience and Safety, the budget has also proposed Introduction of the aesthetically designed Vista Dome LHB coach on tourist routes to give a better travel experience to passengers and provision of indigenously developed automatic train protection on High density network and highly utilized network routes of Indian railways. This system minimized the possibility of train collision due to human error.
What Is National Rail Plan 2030?
- Indian Railways issues draft National Rail Plan
- National Rail Plan set to become the template of planning for future development
- National Rail Plan has been developed to plan infrastructural capacity enhancement along with strategies to increase modal share of the Railways & Business
- The objective of the Plan is to create capacity ahead of demand by 2030, which in turn would cater to growth in demand right up to 2050
- As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2025 has been launched for accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2025
- Future projects for implementation beyond 2025 in both track and signalling have been identified with clear cut timelines for implementation
- Three Dedicated Freight Corridors, namely East Coast, East-West & North-South identified along with timelines. PETS survey already underway
- Several new High Speed Rail Corridors have also been identified. Survey on Delhi-Varanasi High Speed Rail already under way
National Rail Plan 2030 PDF Download – Click Here
Pink Book pdf Download | Indian Railway Pink Book pdf Download
| No. | Pink Book | For More Information |
| 1 | Central Railway (CR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 2 | East Central Railway (ECR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 3 | Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 4 | Eastern Railway (ER) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 5 | East Coast Railway (ECoR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 6 | Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 7 | Northern Railway (NR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 8 | North Central Railway (NCR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 9 | Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 10 | North Eastern Railway (NER) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 11 | North Western Railway (NWR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 12 | Diesel Loco Modernisation Works Pink Book | Click Here |
| 13 | Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 14 | South East Central Railway (SER) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 15 | Modern Coach Factory Rae Bareilly (MCF) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 16 | Southern Railway (SR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 17 | South Western Railway (SWR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 18 | Railway Electrification Pink Book | Click Here |
| 19 | South Central Railway (SCR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 20 | West Central Railway (WCR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 21 | Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 22 | South Eastern Railway (SER) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 23 | Metro Railway (MR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 24 | Metropolitan Transport Project, Chennai (MTPC) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 25 | Western Railway (WR) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 26 | Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 27 | Railway Board (RB) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 28 | Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala (RCFK) Pink Book | Click Here |
| 29 | Rail Wheel Plant, Bela (RWP) Pink Book | Click Here |
Here’s a comprehensive snapshot of how the Union Budget 2025-26 impacts Indian Railways, blending national finance highlights with rail-specific developments:
Union Budget 2025-26: General Highlights (PIB Summary)
- Presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2025
- Major focus on rationalizing customs tariffs, removing seven rates and simplifying surcharges.
- Exemptions introduced on lifesaving drugs and critical minerals, alongside incentives for electronics, shipping, telecom, and EV battery manufacturing
Indian Railways in Budget 2025-26
1. Funding Allocation & Expenditure
- Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for Railways: ₹2.52 lakh crore (slightly lower than previous year’s ₹2.62 lakh Cr)
- Capital Expenditure: ₹2.65 lakh crore (~95% funded through GBS), plus contributions from Nirbhaya Fund, internal resources, and extra-budgetary sources
- Revenue Projections:
- Total internal receipts: ₹3.02 lakh crore (8.3% growth).
- Freight revenue: ₹1.88 lakh crore (+4.4% y-o-y).
- Passenger revenue: ₹92,800 crore (+16% y-o-y).
- Operating Ratio: ~98.43%, indicating near break-even operations
2. Train Fleet Expansion & Modernization
- New trains authorized:
- 200 Vande Bharat units (including sleeper & chair car versions), marking a large-scale upgradation initiative
- 100 Amrit Bharat trains and 50 Namo Bharat trains to enhance regional connectivity
- Procurement of 17,500 general coaches, with 1,400 expected by March-end
3. Infrastructure Development
- Allocation of ₹4.60 lakh crore over the next 3–4 years toward network expansion—doubling, quadrupling, new lines, and station redevelopment
- Station Redevelopment: 103 stations of the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme inaugurated, boosting connectivity and transit amenities
- Multi-Tracking Projects: ₹11,169 crore approved for four multi-tracking projects spanning six states to decongest rail routes and reduce logistics costs
4. Safety & Strategic Projects
- Kavach Rollout:
- Budget estimate includes large-scale deployment of the Kavach Automatic Train Protection system across the network
- Additionally, ₹309 crore is sanctioned for Kavach installation over 790 km in the North Central Railway zone
- Kashmir Rail Link: PM inaugurated the Udhampur–Baramulla line—featuring monumental engineering works like the Chenab River arch bridge—enhancing strategic connectivity
- Maharashtra Rail Projects: ₹89,780 crore approved for 38 regional rail projects (new lines, doubling, gauge conversion); 2,360 km already commissioned
At a Glance
| Category | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Funding | ₹2.52 lakh Cr GBS; ₹2.65 lakh Cr capital outlay; revenue at ₹3.02 lakh Cr |
| Fleet Upgrade | 200 Vande Bharat, 100 Amrit Bharat, 50 Namo Bharat, 17,500 general coaches |
| Infrastructure Upgrades | ₹4.6 lakh Cr for lines & stations; multi-tracking across six states |
| Safety Investments | National Kavach rollout; new Himalayan railway line with Chenab bridge |
| Special Regional Projects | Major project approvals in Maharashtra; strategic emphasis on modernizing rail |