Explained: Why railway project costs go off track across various lines

A Business Stand­ard analysis found that cost escalation or overruns are common in all railway zones

Last month, Business Stan­dard reported that the Indian Railways was expecting another cost revision from the Cabinet. In this latest round, the eastern and western freight corridors saw a 54 per cent cost escalation.

This marks a steady acceleration of railway project costs for this signature project. In 2015, the Cabinet approved a revised cost estimate of Rs 81,459 crore for the eastern and western sections of the dedicated freight corridor. The report highlighted that the figure had risen to Rs 1.24 trillion, of which Rs 21,846 crore was for land acquisition and Rs 1.02 trillion for construction and other costs.

But