Union Budget 2018: Finance Minister announces Rs 1.48 lakh crore as railway capital expenditure
New Delhi: Despite the larger belief being that the main focus of the Union Budget 2018-19 was on the agricultural economy, the infrastructure sector remained the single largest target area for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who termed it the “growth driver of economy” while announcing an “all-time high allocation to rail and road sectors”. Here are the highlights of the Union Budget 2018 in view of railway projects in India:- ₹1.48 lakh crore has been allocated to as railway capital expenditure for Financial Year 2018-19. Most of this money will be spent on capacity expansion, since it is a priority for the national transporter. About 18,000 km of rail lines will be doubled and gauge conversion is underway to eliminate capacity constraints. 36,000 km of rail track renewal has been targeted in the coming year while 4,267 unmanned railway crossings on broad gauge routes are to be eliminated in the next two years. A new institute will be set up at Vadodara to...