Railway Budget 2025: Indian Railways' wishlist from Nirmala Sitharaman - higher allocation, new trains, infra upgrade

Union Budget 2025: The countdown has begun for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s presentation of the Union Budget on February 1, 2025. While every sector feels the impact of this pivotal financial event, the Indian Railways holds a unique significance in the Union Budget.

As the country’s largest employer, the operations of Indian Railways affect every aspect of daily life. Although last year’s Budget speech by Sitharaman mentioned Indian Railways only once and maintained a status quo on allocation, many feel that this could change in this year’s Budget.

In the last Union Budget presented by Sitharaman on July 23, 2024, the national transporter was allocated a record capital expenditure of Rs 2,62,200 crore. This marked a significant rise from Rs 28,174 crore in 2013-14, enabling the world’s fourth-largest railway network to accelerate its modernisation efforts.

Ahead of the Budget presentation, Indian Railways released its expenditure report on January 5 last week. In the report, the Railways said that it had spent 76 percent of the total budgetary allocation. Of the total capital expenditure of Rs 2,65,200 crore, the Railways stated that it had spent Rs 1,92,446 crore by December 2024. Regarding the budgetary allocation for safety, the Railways spent 82 percent of the outlay, according to the expenditure report.

Railway Budget 2025: Vande Bharat to Bullet Train - Look at key agenda 

As of now, Indian Railways operates 136 Vande Bharat trains across the country. There are expectations that Sitharaman may announce new Vande Bharat trains. Special focus is likely to be placed on Vande Metro services, which will cater to suburban passengers. The agenda is also expected to include increased allocation for the Bullet Train project, upgrades to the KAVACH system, and the infusion of AI into key operations, such as ticketing, among other initiatives."

What happened to railway stocks during last budget?

Railway stocks, such as Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), Texmaco Rail, RailTel Corporation of India, Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL), and Ircon International, are always in focus during budget presentations. On July 23, 2024, following Sitharaman’s Budget speech, railway stocks recorded a decline of 1 to 5 percent.