Growth kept in fast lane with rail, road, airport infra push
Shubhadeep Choudhury
New Delhi, February 1
The Union Government has continued with its push to strengthen the country’s infrastructure sector such as roads, ports and airports having increased the capex for 2024-25 by 11% to Rs 11.11 lakh crore in the Interim Budget for 2024-25.
Striving for better connectivity
Focus on 3 key rail corridors — energy, mineral & cement; port connectivity; high-traffic density. 40K ‘normal’ coaches to be upgraded to Vande Bharat standards
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to get Rs 2.78 lakh crore in FY25, up 2.8% with the aim of boosting construction of highways and expressways
“Building on the massive tripling of the capital expenditure outlay in the past four years, resulting in huge multiplier impact on economic growth and employment creation, the outlay for the next year is being increased by 11.1% to Rs 11,11,111 crore. This would be 3.4% of the GDP,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Key announcements made by Sitharaman include three major railway corridor programmes — energy, mineral and cement corridors; port connectivity corridors; and high-traffic density corridors. The projects have been identified under PM Gati Shakti for enabling multi-modal connectivity. The first two projects are aimed at improving logistics efficiency and reduce cost of freight movement.
It was also announced by Sitharaman that 40,000 “normal” rail coaches will be converted to the Vande Bharat standards to enhance safety, convenience and comfort of passengers. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw later said these works would be carried out over the next four to five years. Both non-AC and AC coaches would be upgraded to Vande Bharat standards, Vaishnaw added.
Overall, the Railways will receive a capex push of Rs 2.52 lakh crore for 2024-25 fiscal, an increase of 5% from Rs 2.4 lakh crore allocated a year ago. Sitharaman also announced the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will get an allocation of Rs 2.78 lakh crore in FY25, up 2.8% on year. The government had set a target of 13,000 km and 13,800 km of highway construction in 2022-23 and 2023-24, but the speed of construction was affected by unfavourable weather conditions and elections in many states. The allocation proposed in the Interim Budget is expected to help boost the construction of highways and expressways amid rising interest expenses and increasing land acquisition costs.
The government would continue to work on airport infrastructure development going forward, Sitharaman said. The allocation to the sector, however, saw a sharp decline. From Rs 2,922.12 crore in the revised estimate of 2023-24, it dropped to Rs 2,300 crore in 2024-25. The Budget documents showed that the major reduction is mainly due to lower money allocation for AI Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle formed by the government and that holds various assets of national carrier Air India.
