Railway budgetary allocation
for Maharashtra is akin to
‘special package’: Vaishnaw
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
| Photo Credit: PTI
With the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance crying foul that Maharashtra was given the short shrift in the Union Budget, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday that the allocation for railway projects in the State for financial year 2024-25 – the second highest in the country after Uttar Pradesh – is almost akin to a “special package”. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in the State later this year.
On Tuesday, while the Mahayuti government had welcomed the Union Budget for allocating funds and projects worth over ₹8,000 crore for Maharashtra, MVA constituents Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) criticised it for focusing mainly on Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, States ruled by allies of the BJP.
“A record allocation has been made this year for Maharashtra for varied railway projects of ₹15,940 crore,” he said while interacting with the media. “New track-laying work of about 180 km per year is ongoing in the State.”
The Minister said there are ongoing works worth ₹81,580 crore for railway projects in Maharashtra of station revamp, augmentation of passenger capacity, track laying, etc. Roughly ₹1,30,000 crore worth of projects such as dedicated freight corridor, Gati Shakti, inland container depot are in different stages of execution, he said. An additional ₹30,000 crore has been earmarked for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project or bullet train.
“During the 10 years of UPA [Congress-led United Progressive Alliance], an average of about ₹1,100 crore was allocated annually,” Mr. Vaishnaw said while highlighting the importance the National Democratic Alliance regime is giving to Maharashtra.
Specifically focusing on the Mumbai suburban local services, he said 250 additional services will be introduced in the next five years. “We are in the process of segregating suburban railway lines and outstation ones. The current headway between two trains is 180 seconds, which we intend to reduce to 150 seconds. These will allow us to augment capacity,” he added.
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