Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal
in his budget speech on Tuesday said the Indian Railways plans to invest Rs 63,363 crore ($11.5 billion) in the new financial year beginning April 1, mainly on expansion of tracks and improving passenger safety.
"The thrust of the plan is on doubling of tracks, safety and passenger and staff welfare for which I have increased the outlay from about Rs 11,410 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 13,220 crore, an increase of 16 per cent," Bansal said while
presenting the annual budget of his ministry in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament.
Bansal said the railways would get Rs 26,000 crore budgetary support in the next financial year to finance its plan expenditure. Other sources of financing include Rs 14,260 crore from railway's internal resources and Rs 2,000 crore from railway's share in road safety fund.
There is also a plan to
raise Rs 15,103 crore from the market and mobilise Rs 6,000 crore through public-private-partnership (PPP) route to fund its expansion plans in 2013-14.
Bansal said 500 km of new railway lines would be built and 450 km of
narrow and medium gauge lines would be converted into broad gauge in the 2013-14 fiscal.
The government has also set a target to double 750 km of single railway lines.
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