New Delhi: Railway infrastructure would need an investment of Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she presented her maiden Budget in Parliament today.
She proposed that a public-private partnership (PPP) be used to unleash faster development and delivery of passenger freight services for railway projects to boost connectivity.
“Railways will be encouraged to invest in suburban railways through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and enhance Metro rail network through PPPs,” she said.
The government envisions using rivers for cargo transportation, which will also decongest roads and railways, Sitharaman said.
Railway stations modernisation will be launched this year, she added.
In the interim Budget presented February this year, the then Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had given capital support from the Budget for railways at Rs 64,587 crore in 2019-20.
Railways’ overall capital expenditure programme was Rs 1,58,658 crore.