{"id":39060,"date":"2025-03-12T19:35:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T14:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=39060"},"modified":"2025-03-12T19:35:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T14:05:54","slug":"railway-demands-for-grants-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/12-03-2025\/railway-demands-for-grants-report","title":{"rendered":"Report on the Demands for Grants for Railways\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Syllabus :GS3\/Economy <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The third report on the “Demands for Grants (2025-26)”<\/strong> of the Ministry of Railways emphasizes several areas for improvement in the Indian Railways, focusing on technological advancements, capacity expansion, and safety enhancement.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Do you know ?<\/strong>
    – Indian Railways is managed by the Ministry of Railways through the Railway Board.<\/strong>
    – The Railways’ expenditure is funded by: Internal revenue (mainly from goods and passenger earnings)
    1. Budgetary support from the central government,
    2. Extra-budgetary resources (including borrowings, institutional financing, and public-private partnerships).
    3. Working expenses like salaries, pensions, and asset maintenance are covered by internal resources.\u00a0
    4. Capital expenditure is funded by government grants and extra-budgetary resources.<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Preset Status\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Indian Railways is undergoing a major transformation to provide faster, safer, and world-class travel experiences to billions of Indians at a nominal cost.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • As part of this effort, the railway has spent 76% of its budget for the curren<\/strong>t fiscal year, with a focus on capacity augmentation, including the introduction of 136 Vande Bharat trains, <\/strong>near-total electrification of broad gauge lines, and infrastructure development such as new tracks and gauge conversion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • \u00a0These investments are enhancing travel speed, safety, and comfort.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
      \n
      \"initiatives<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

      Budget Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Railways\u2019 internal revenue <\/strong>for 2025-26 is estimated to be Rs 3,02,100 crore. This an increase of 8.3% over the revised estimate for 2024-25.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • In 2025-26, 99.8%<\/strong> of revenue is estimated to be raised from traffic operations (Rs 3,01,400 crore).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • The total revenue expenditure in 2025-26 is estimated at Rs 2,99,059 crore, an increase of 7.7% over the revised estimate of 2024-25.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • In 2025-26,<\/strong> capital expenditure is estimated at Rs 2,65,200 crore, same as the revised estimate for 2024-25.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Issues\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • The National Rail Plan, 2020 (NRP) highlighted underinvestment in capacity<\/strong>, leading to congestion on high-demand routes and low average speeds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Indian Railways faces competition from the road sector<\/strong> in attracting freight due to better first and last-mile connectivity.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Railway finances are constrained, as revenue expenditure has averaged 99% of internal revenue in the last decade, limiting investment in capital works.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Additionally, between 2000-01 and 2023-24, 3,953 consequential train accidents <\/strong>occurred, including 48 in 2022-23 and 40 in 2023-24, involving collisions, fires, and derailments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Recent recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Technology & Safety:<\/strong> The report stresses the importance of advancing technology, including the execution of automatic train protection systems like Kavach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Infrastructure Development:<\/strong> Prioritizing capital expenditure for infrastructure development, modernisation, and asset replacement is recommended to ensure timely completion of projects and avoid cost overruns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Revenue Optimisation: <\/strong>Suggestions for optimising operating expenses, adopting energy-efficient technologies, and exploring alternative revenue avenues to boost passenger and freight revenues are made.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Staff Welfare:<\/strong> The Ministry is urged to focus on staff welfare initiatives to improve morale and productivity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Internal Resource Mobilisation: <\/strong>The Committee advises the Ministry to explore new ways to increase internal earnings and reduce dependence on government budget allocations by leveraging private sector expertise and market borrowing.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Doubling of Railway Lines: <\/strong>While the financial utilization stands at 74%, physical progress on doubling railway lines is only 39%, with the Committee urging Railways to address obstacles hindering progress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Manned Level Crossings & Production Targets:<\/strong> The Committee highlights consistent shortfalls in closing manned level crossings and meeting production targets for coaches and wagons, recommending an increase in manufacturing capacity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Station Redevelopment:<\/strong> Improvements in crowd management and better planning for station redevelopment are urged to prevent incidents and improve efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Freight Efficiency:<\/strong> A market-driven approach is recommended to enhance freight traffic, particularly through Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project: T<\/strong>he Committee calls for expedited finalisation of contract packages and timely completion of the project, along with addressing construction challenges and delays to avoid cost overruns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Indigenous<\/strong> Manufacturing<\/strong>: Expanding the indigenous manufacturing of Shinkansen technology components under the Make-in-India initiative is advised to support the long-term sustainability of high-speed rail operations.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Conclusion\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • The Indian Railways is undergoing a transformative phase, marked by significant investments and modernization efforts to enhance its infrastructure, safety, and passenger experience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Key initiatives, such as the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, modernization of locomotives and coaching stock, and the implementation of advanced safety measures, are crucial steps towards achieving this vision.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • These comprehensive measures are expected to not only boost the efficiency and safety of train operations but also support India’s broader economic growth and connectivity goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              Source :TH<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The third report on the “Demands for Grants (2025-26)” of the Ministry of Railways emphasizes several areas for improvement in the Indian Railways, focusing on technological advancements, capacity expansion, and safety enhancement.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39062,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39060\/revisions\/39062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}