Railway Budget allocates Rs 8,060 crore for NFR

GUWAHATI: The General Budget 2021 has been historic for Indian Railways. The NFR (Northeast Fronteir) has received an allocation of Rs 8,060 crore in the recently placed Union Budget. Out of this Rs 4,330 crore has been allocated for New Lines and Doubling works. Rs 3,470 crore has been allocated for Safety and Capacity Enhancement Works. Passenger Amenities received Rs 166 crore.

The Gross Budgetary Allocation for 2021-22 Financial year is 238% more than the average yearly allocation during the period from 2009-14 (Rs 3383 crore per year).

This year's budget has allocated Rs. 650 crore for doubling of the New Bongaigaon-Agthori (visRangiya) and Rs. 610 crore for the New Bongaigaon – Goalpara - Guwahati section. Similarly Digaru - Hojai doubling work has been allocated Rs. 100 crore and New Mainaguri – Gumanihat doubling work allocated Rs. 110 crore.

Among New Line projects, Sivok – Rangpo project (44.96 kms) has been allocated Rs. 1100 crs, Tetelia – Byrnihat project has been allocated Rs 101crs and Agartala – Akhaura project has been allocated Rs. 300 crs. Other ongoing New Line projects like Jiribam – Imphal has been allocated Rs 1000 crs, Bairabi – Sairang project has also been allocated Rs 1000 crs and Dimapur – Zubza project has been allocated Rs. 800 crs.

This year's budget has put the thrust mainly on Infrastructure development, Speed augmentation of trains, Development of terminal facilities, Improvement of amenities for passengers and other users, Construction of Road over bridges/Road under bridges for the safety of road users, Modernization of the signaling system for enhancement of safety and speed.

Railways have given emphasis to become future ready to meet the demand and aspirations of common people for economic development. NFR is already undertaking rail connectivity work in all the 8 States of the NE region. Doubling of Railway lines in identified High Density Network sections are undertaken for faster connectivity. Automatic signalling system will be provided in the High Density Network sections. Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is also planned to be implemented in HDN and HUN routes. NFR is also taking measures to optimize logistic services to boost Economic growth in the region.

Also Read: Indian Railways set to complete 56 key projects by March 2022

Also Watch: Cotton University Students Demand Online Exams, Syllabus Down by 50%