Over Rs 8 lakh cr earmarked for railway modernisation: Govt

GE Alstom, given a contract worth Rs 40,000 crore for making state-of-the-art locomotives

The government has earmarked over Rs 8 lakh crore for a period of five years for modernisation of the Railways, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday.

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu said a leading company, GE Alstom, has been given a contract worth Rs 40,000 crore for making state-of-the-art and environmental friendly diesel and electric locomotives.

Over a period of five years, Rs 8,52,000 crore has been earmarked for modernisation of the railways and of this, we have already allocated an amount of Rs 3,75,000 crore before completion of three years since allocation.

Prabhu said that during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's tenure, not more than Rs 35,000 crore per year had been spent as capital expenditure.

Responding to a question about the decision to implement flexible tariffs for rail travel like it is done for air travel, the minister said that 10 per cent discount is given.

Reduced fares have been identified in Shatabdi Express, Ajmer-Jaipur Express Train and Bangalore-Mysore Express Train.

He said that Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000 crore is the railway subsidy which is given to the passengers.