(BS)
After a record budgetary allocation, the ministry of railways has plans to acquire new rolling stock worth over Rs 1.87 trillion in the upcoming financial year, according to the national transporter’s annual rolling stock programme for 2023-24 (FY24). This plan includes 300 Vande Metro trains, 1000 eight-coach Vande Bharat trains, 35 hydrogen trains, and locomotives for freight augmentation in FY24.
While big-ticket items are expected to be brought out at a slower pace, the railways expect production of big-ticket items like Vande Metros and Hydrogen Trains to be set in motion in FY24. Between financial outgo for tenders, awarded contracts, and these new assets, the railways expect net capital expenditure on rolling stock at Rs 47,000 crore in the upcoming fiscal year.
In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 2.4 trillion budgetary allocation for the ministry. While the railways will not have any borrowings from the market in the upcoming fiscal, many of these new proposals have a percentage financed through debt.
