Budget 2018: FM announces Rs 1.48 lakh crore for railways, says capacity expansion a priority

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced a capital expenditure of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for the Indian Railways in his Budget 2018 speech.

Most of this money will be spent on capacity expansion, since it is a priority for the national transporter, Jaitley said while presenting the Union Budget.

"Over Rs 1.48 lakh crore to be allocated for railways in next fiscal," Jaitley said.
He proposed a target of doubling 18,000 km of lines and said gauge conversion is underway to eliminate capacity constraints.

The minister said 36,000 km of rail track renewal has been targeted in the coming year while 4,267 unmanned railway crossings on broad gauge routes are to be eliminated in the next two years.