The Centre has allocated Rs 10,376 crore in the Union Budget 2024-25 for the development of railways in the northeastern region, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament on Tuesday. For FY 2024-25, the government has allocated a record capital expenditure of Rs 2,62,200 crore for railways, with gross budgetary support amounting to Rs 2,52,200 crore.

“For the entire northeastern region this year, an allocation of Rs 10,376 crore has been made. As you are aware, 60 stations are being redeveloped in the northeastern region with the aim of making them Amrit Stations,” Vaishnaw told the media here.

On the railway budget allocation, he said that this year a total budget outlay of Rs 2,62,200 crore for the railway budget has been allocated and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the allocation.

Vaishnaw further informed that for the Jammu and Kashmir region, a total of Rs 3,694 crore has been allocated this year for the ongoing projects in the region.

He also informed that work on four stations, including Badgam Station, Jammu Tawi Station, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Station, and Udhampur Station, is underway.

In Uttarakhand, Rs 5,131 crore has been allocated for railway projects. The Railway Minister stated that the Karnaprayag project is important. It has a 213-km-long tunnel, out of which 171 km is already complete.

He also added that the two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) used in this project are named ‘Shiv’ and ‘Shakti’. This tunnel project will be completed by mid-2026.

Vaishnaw shared that 128 railway stations are going to be redeveloped in Maharashtra under the Amrit Bharat scheme, and 100 per cent electrification of railway infrastructure in Maharashtra has been completed.

For railway projects in Madhya Pradesh, the central government has allocated Rs 14,738 crore, and projects worth more than Rs 80,000 crore are ongoing in Madhya Pradesh.

The Railway Minister also highlighted that the railways have developed significantly in the last ten years compared to the previous 60 years. He informed that almost 96 per cent of the railway network is electrified, and 31,000 km of new railway tracks have been constructed in the last ten years.