Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has alloted Rs 1,10,055 crore to Indian Railways in the Union Budget 2021-22. Of this, Rs 1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure in 2021-22.
She said Indian Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan for India - 2030. The plan is to create a 'future ready' Railway system by 2030.
"Bringing down the logistic costs for our industry is at the core of our strategy to enable 'Make in India'. It is expected that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC will be commissioned by June 2022," the finance minister said.
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The Sonnagar-Gomoh Section (263.7 km) of Eastern DFC will be taken up in public private partnership mode in 2021-22, while Gomoh-Dankuni section of 274.3 km will also be taken up in short succession, she said.
"We will undertake future dedicated freight corridor projects namely East Coast corridor from Kharagpur to Vijayawada, East-West Corridor from Bhusaval to Kharagpur to Dankuni and North-South corridor from Itarsi to Vijayawada. Detailed Project Reports will be undertaken in the first phase," Sitharaman said.
The Railways will also monetise dedicated freight corridor assets for operations and maintenance, after commissioning, she added.