Indian Railways has witnessed approximately 75 per cent capital expenditure utilisation in the first nine months of this Financial Year till December 2023, Ministry of Railways said in a statement on Monday.

Notably, this is the highest ever capital expenditure for the given time period.

Indian Railways has made an expenditure of Rs 1, 95,929.97 crore till December 2023 which is approx 75 per cent of total capex of Rs 2.62 lakh crore of Railways during this financial year, the ministry said.

During the same period in December 2022, Indian Railways had witnessed capex utilization of Rs 1,46,248.73 crore. This year, Capex Utilisation is approx. 33 per cent more in comparison to the corresponding period last year.

This investment is seen in various infrastructure projects like New Lines, Doubling, Gauge Conversion and enhancing passenger amenities. Safety of the passengers is paramount in Railways. Significant sum has been invested in enhancing the safety related works.

Analysts have believed that the sectors like PSUs, infra including railway, and energy are expected to be star performers in the years to come as well, largely due to capex-driven growth.

The railway stocks were the best performer of the lot with the Indian Railway Finance Corporation ( IRFC) topping the list among the 68 stocks registering a 444 per cent gain, Rail Vikas Nigam took the fourth spot with a 299 per cent surge, while RITES was up 103 per cent .

Under the Sugamya Bharat Mission or Accessible India Campaign for Divyangjans, the government has installed lifts or escalators in a total of 597 railway stations, the Ministry of Railways had informed earlier.

According to the data shared by the Ministry, a total of 143 Escalators were provided till March 2014. The number rose to 1,144 during 2014 to 2023.

During the calendar year 2023 itself, 128 escalators were provided by the government, and as of now, total 1,287 escalators at 372 stations were provided.

In terms of lifts at the railway stations, the ministry data said till 2014, as many as 97 lifts were installed. From 2014 to 2023, 1195 lifts were installed at various stations. A total of 1292 lifts at 497 stations were provided.

During the calendar year 2023, 227 lifts were provided.