The Railways ministry should expedite work on capacity and infrastructure augmentation, and focus on safety and commuter convenience as laid down in the Budget Capex, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on September 17.
The minister “urged the officials of the Ministry of Railways to focus on capacity augmentation, safety and commuter convenience, including doubling and electrification of existing railway tracks and also laying of new railway lines across the country as per the capex outlay provisioned in the Union Budget,” according to a statement released after her review meeting on the Budgeted Capital Expenditure (Capex) of the Ministry of Railways in New Delhi on September 17.
The minister also instructed officials to focus on implementation of Kavach system (India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system) in a phased manner and meet the allocated Capex target in the stipulated timeframe.
Earlier this month, Sitharaman had said that ministries should follow setting quarterly targets on capital expenditure and ensure that they are achieved within a stipulated timeframe.
At the meeting, railways officials said that 434 railway projects have been identified under three economic corridors totalling 40,900 km with a total investment plan of Rs 11.16 lakh crore. Under these Corridors, 55 projects have already been sanctioned till now with total length of 5,723 km, with an investment plan of Rs 1.03 lakh crore. During the current year, 101 projects are to be appraised under the corridor programme.
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