Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that Rs. 10,376 crore have been earmarked for the North Eastern Region in FY 2024–25, which is a five-fold increase from the annual average budget outlay during the period 2009–14. Vaishnaw stated this in a virtual press conference while addressing the media persons from the North Eastern Region today to elaborate on the key announcements made in the Railway Budget 2024–25.
The press conference was held to provide further clarity and insights into the budget allocations and initiatives aimed at transforming the Indian Railways and empowering the Northeast Frontier Railways.
During the press conference, the Minister highlighted the government’s commitment to modernizing the rail network and ensuring a rapid pace of expansion of railway tracks in the North Eastern Region in line with the Act East Policy. The minister also answered questions from the media, providing additional details on various aspects of the budget, including infrastructure development and passenger safety measures.
Some key highlights for the railway budget for the North-Eastern Region in 2024–25 are as follows: 173 km of new tracks per year (average) during the 2014–24 period, as compared to only 67 km per year during 2009–14; electrification of 142 km of tracks per year (average) during 2014–24. This figure was NIL during 2009–2014, with the development of 60 stations as Amrit stations: Assam (50), Tripura (4), Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim (1 each).
After the Minister’s address, Chetan Shrivastava, GM, NFR, stated that adequate funds have been allotted for all infrastructure and safety-related works as compared to previous years. The GM announced that electrification of 921 RKM was done during 2023–24. 1573 RKM of tracks are targeted to be electrified during 2024–25. This will complete the electrification of all the N.E. states. Rs. 694.69 crore have been allocated for electrification works over N.F. Railway.
This year’s budget allocation shows unprecedented growth in several segments for N.F. Railway. Around 8378.53 crores have been allocated for new line and doubling projects. Keeping safety and operations on top priority, Rs. 1305.07 crores have been allocated for track renewal works and bridge works and Rs. 170 crores for signalling and telecom works. Rs. 537 crore has been allocated to improve passenger amenities on station premises.
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