An allocation of Rs 2.62 lakh crore has been made for the Indian Railways in the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Tuesday.

Talking to the media here, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw hailed the budget of Rs 2,62,200 crore as a record allocation which, he said, would further strengthen the Railways.

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He said out of the total allocation made for this sector, Rs 1,08,000 crore has been given for safety-related provisions.

The Union minister pointed out that before 2014, the total budgetary allocation for the Railways was Rs 35,000 crore.

The net revenue expenditure of Railways is placed at Rs 2,78,500 crore in Budget Estimate 2024-25 as against Rs 2,58,600 crore in RE 2023-24.

Reimbursement of losses on the operation of strategic lines has been kept at Rs 2648 crore in Budget Estimate 2024-25 as against Rs 2,491.84 crore in RE 2023-24.

An amount of Rs 745 crore has been provided in BE 2024-25 towards debt servicing of market borrowings for National Projects.

The provision in the Capital section of this demand is for expenditure on assets, acquisition, construction, and replacement, met out of funds from the General Revenues as Gross Budgetary Support (including Railway Safety Fund and Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh) and Internal Resources of the Railways. It also includes provisions out of the Nirbhaya Fund.

The total outlay provided for Capital Expenditure in Budget Estimate 2024-25 of Rs 2,65,200 crore includes Rs 2,52,000 crore from General Revenues, Rs 200 crore from Nirbhaya Fund, Rs 3000 crore from Internal Resources, and Rs 10,000 crore from Extra Budgetary Resources.

Total Receipt of Railways comprising revenues from passenger, goods, other coaching, sundry other heads and Railway Recruitment Boards, etc. have been placed at Rs 2,78,500 crore in BE 2024-25 as against RE 2023-24 of Rs 2,58,600 crore.