Presenting the 10th Union budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government for the year 2022-2023, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday underlined Indian Railways’ critical role as one of the seven engines of ‘PM GatiShakti’ masterplan- “a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development.”
The other six engines, according to Finance Minister Sitharaman, are roads, airports, ports, mass transportation, waterways, and logistics infrastructure.
Sitharaman’s main thrust in the Budget 2022-23 for the railways is passengers safety, speed, and modernisation of passengers and goods carrying infrastructures and promoting of local goods.
As part of the master plan for economic growth and sustainable development, Sitharaman proposed to popularise the concept of ‘one station-one product’ ‘to help local businesses and supply chains.’
Further to ensure the safety of railway passengers, Sitharaman proposed to bring 2000 kilometres of railway network under ‘Kavach’- automatic train protection or ATP system that can automatically bring a moving train to a halt when it detects movement of another train on the same railway track.
“As a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, 2,000 km of the network will be brought under Kavach, the indigenous world-class technology for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23,” Nirmala Sitharaman said in course of her over an hour-long Budget speech, she read from the Budget document in her tab.
For ensuring a better passenger traveling experience the Finance Minister proposed the development of four hundred new-generation Vande Bharat Trains with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience. These 400 trains would be developed and manufactured during the next three years, she said.
“Railways will develop new products and efficient logistics services for small farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises, besides taking the lead in the integration of Postal and Railways networks to provide seamless solutions for the movement of parcels,” the Union Minister said.
Sitharaman said, “One Station-One Product’ concept will be popularized to help local businesses & supply chains.” She said that 100 PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals for multimodal logistics facilities will also be developed during the next three years.
Finance Minister said innovative ways of financing and faster implementation will be encouraged for building metro systems of appropriate type at scale.
Multimodal connectivity between mass urban transport and railway stations will be facilitated on priority. Design of metro systems, including civil structures, will be re-oriented and standardized for Indian conditions and needs, Nirmala Sitharaman said.