Railway Board lauds Rs 1.10 trn Budget allocation, calls it 'path-breaking'

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Railway Board (Ministry of Railways) Suneet Sharma on Monday lauded the Centre's allocation of Rs 1,10,055 crore to Indian Railways, calling it 'path-breaking' and 'transformational'.

"The budget that has come for the Railways is path-breaking, transformational, and is a future-ready budget. It has emphasised capacity enhancement, focus on technology and deliverance. I believe that with the quantum jump that we have been given in this budget, we will finish expansion projects soon," Sharma said.

Speaking about interruptions in railway services due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he said that about 65 per cent of mail express services have been resumed.

"We have resumed 65 per cent of mail express services. We are trying to completely normalise the services keeping in mind COVID protocol and are discussing the issue with state governments," Sharma told ANI.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the central government is allocating Rs 1,10,055 crores for Railways.

She also announced an outlay for capital expenditure amounting to Rs 1,07,100 crores.

Presenting the Union Budget 2021-22, Sitharaman said that the plan of the government is to create a future-ready Railway system by 2030.

"Indian Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan for India 2030. The plan is to create a future-ready railways system by 2030 - bringing down the logistic cost for the industry is at the core of a strategy to enable Make in India. I am providing a record sum of Rs 1,10,055 crores for Railways of which Rs 1,07,100 crores is for capital expenditure only," she said.