Maharashtra has been granted an unprecedented sum of Rs 15,554 crore for railway initiatives in the interim budget 2024. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasized that this record allocation is nearly 13 times higher than the average annual allocation of Rs 1,171 crore given to Maharashtra between 2009 and 2014.

As per a Central Railway release, the total plan outlay for Central Railway in FY 24`-25 stands at Rs 10,611.82 crore, surpassing its net plan outlay of Rs 10,600 crore for the fiscal year 2023-24.

The interim budget designates Rs 1,941 crore for new railway line projects within the state. Notable projects include Rs 275 crore for Ahmednagar – Beed – Parli Vaijnath (250 km), Rs 330 crore for Baramati – Lonand (54 km), Rs 750 crore for Wardha – Nanded (via Yavatmal-Pusood) (270 km), Rs 225 crore for Solapur-Osmanabad – New line via Tuljapur (84.44 km), Rs 350 crore for Dhule (Borvihir) – Nardana (50.6 km), and Rs 10 crore for Kalyan-Murbad via Ulhasnagar (28 km) project.

Additionally, Rs 300 crore has been allocated for the gauge conversion of Pachora-Jamner (84 km) line, and Rs 1,615 crore has been earmarked for additional railway line works. These include Rs 85 crore for Kalyan-Kasara 3rd line (68 km), Rs 125 crore for Wardha-Nagpur 3rd line (76 km), Rs 200 crore for Wardha-Balharshah 3rd line (132 km), Rs 320 for Itarsi-Nagpur (280 km) line, Rs 200 crore for Pune-Miraj-Londa doubling (467 km), Rs 40 crore for Jalgaon-Bhusaval 4th line (24 km), Rs 300 crore for Daund-Manmad doubling (247 km), and Rs 120 crore each for Wardha-Nagpur 4th line (79 km) and Manmad-Jalgaon 3rd line (160 km).

In specific budgetary allocations, Rs 256 crore has been set aside for traffic facilities and related works, Rs 756 crore for road safety projects such as rail over bridges (ROB) and rail under bridges (RUB), Rs 1,022 crore for customer amenities, Rs 1,320 crore for track renewals, Rs 192 crore for bridge and tunnel works, Rs 183 crore for signaling and telecommunication, and Rs 338 crore for electrification projects, as detailed in the Central Railway release.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her interim budget announcement, disclosed a substantial Rs 11.11 lakh crore expenditure on infrastructure for the fiscal year beginning April 2024, adhering to the tradition of a vote on account with no major policy announcements.

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