1% of railway land under commercial use, 0.22% under encroachment: Ashwini Vaishnaw

(Representational image)

About 0.22 per cent of land under Indian Railways is under encroachment and about 1 per cent is being utilised for commercial purposes, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

The Railways earned Rs 3,129.49 crore in 2024-25 from the commercial use of its land, the minister said in a written reply.

Vaishnaw was replying to questions regarding the use of railway land for commercial purposes.

"A total of about 4.90 lakh hectare of land is owned by Indian Railways, out of which, about 0.22% (1,078 hectare) of railway land is under encroachment and about 1% (4,930 hectare) railway land is under utilisation for commercial purposes, including land entrusted to RLDA (Rail Land Development Authority) for commercial utilisation," Vaishnaw said.

He added that the Railways permits use of its land for social infrastructure like hospitals, Kendriya Vidyalayas for a period up to 60 years at Re 1 per square metre per annum.

“The temporary licensing of railway land for cultural and sports activities is permitted for a period up to 4 months. Indian Railways has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sports Authority of India for the development of sports facilities at Cooch Behar,” the minister said. PTI JP SKY SKY