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Bugdet 2021: Sitharaman introduces 2 metro rail technologies for Tier 1, Tier 2 cities
Out of the record sum of ₹1,10,055 crores allocated towards Railways in the budget, ₹1,07,100 crores was towards capital expenditure only, Sitharaman said adding that a National Rail Plan for India 2030 had been prepared.
While announcing a record amount of ₹1,10,055 crores for the Indian Railways in this year’s Union budget, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that the Centre would work towards raising the share of public transport in urban areas through the expansion of metro rail networks. A total of 702 kilometres (kms) of conventional metro was operational and another 1,016 kms of metro and Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) was under construction in 27 cities, she added.
Further expanding her announcement on the budget allocation towards the country’s metro rail network, Sitharaman said that two new technologies- MetroLite and MetroNeo will be deployed to provide metro rail systems at a much lesser cost in Tier 2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier 1 cities too. “MetroLite and MetroNeo will be deployed to provide metro rail systems at much lesser costs with the same experience, convenience and safety in Tier 2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier 1 cities also,” she said during her budget presentation.
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Sitharaman pointed out that central counterpart funding would be provided to Kochi Metro Railway Phase 2- of 11.5 kms at a cost of ₹1,957.05 crores and Chennai metro railway Phase 2 of 118.9 kms at a cost of ₹63,246 crores. The Bengaluru Metro Project- Phase 2A and 2B of 58.19 kms will be provided funding of ₹14,788 crores. While the Nagpur Metro Project Phase 2 and the Nashik Metro Project would be provided amounts of ₹5,976 crores and ₹2,092 crores respectively, she added.
Out of the record sum of ₹1,10,055 crores allocated towards Railways in the budget, ₹1,07,100 crores was towards capital expenditure only, Sitharaman said adding that a National Rail Plan for India 2030 had been prepared. “The aim of this plan is to create a future-ready railways system by 2030 - bringing down logistic cost for industry is at the core of a strategy to enable Make in India,” the finance minister said.
Citing the safety measures undertaken in the Railways by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led government, the Sitharman said that , high-density network and highly utilised network routes would also be provided with indigenously developed automatic train protection system that eliminates train collision due to human error. This step was being taken to further strengthen the sector.
