Budget 2026: Sitharaman announces dedicated freight corridor connecting Bengal's Dankuni to Surat

Budget 2026 speech Budget 2026 speech

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced a freight corridor for West Bengal, a state that will go to polls this year.

While presenting the Budget 2026 in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said that a new dedicated freight corridors connecting Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west will be established

"20 new national waterways will be operationalised over the next five years to promote environmentally sustainable cargo movement," the FM said.

West Bengal was in focus particularly because it is one of the four states that will hold the Assembly elections later this year.

Previous budgets have focused on sectors such as housing, health, river management, and tourism, etc. In December, during his visit to West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for major highway projects. He also flagged off the Howrah-Guwahati (Kamakhya) Vande Bharat sleeper train from Malda railway station. Later, PM Modi virtually inaugurated the Guwahati-Howrah Vande Bharat Sleeper service, boosting connectivity between West Bengal and Assam.

This comes amid an ongoing tussle between the state and the Centre over funds allocation. Recently, West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya accused the Centre of not releasing the state's dues, saying the state government was fulfilling its responsibilities but was not receiving what it was entitled to.