Indian railways is set to purchase new trains worth Rs 1 lakh crore over the next few years, to cater to the rising demand in railway transportation, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.
The national transporter has so far spent 70% of Rs 2.4 lakh crore of the budget allocated to railways in the union budget for FY24.
Vaishnaw told ET that Rs 1 lakh crore will be allocated to replace the old train sets and 7,000-8,000 new train sets will be needed to cater to the demand, as per the current economic growth.
The tender for procurement of trains will be floated in next 4-5 years and the project will be completed in the next 15 years.
This will cater to the current growing demand of the railway transport for both goods and passenger.
The Indian railways has completed the Eastern dedicated Freight Corridor project, with 1,337 kms and this is boosting the development of new industrial hubs and Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals, Vaishnaw said.
The Western Freight corridor is also 80% complete and this will make the transportation smoother for both passenger and goods trains.
The number of trips need to be increased by 30% from the current levels, in order to eliminate the wait listing in passenger trains, the railway minister said. An exception to this is peak demand months, he said.
The government is accelerating its track-laying pace compared to last year. While 5,243 km of new tracks were laid in 2022-23, this year's target is set at 5,500-6,000 km, representing a daily increase from 14 km to 16 km.
Multiple railway stocks buzzed during trade on Friday, after the announcement.
Texmaco Rail and Engineering Ltd. hit an intraday high of over 10%. The company has secured an order worth Rs 1,374.4 crore, for manufacture and supply of 3,400 BOXNS wagons.
Shares of Jupiter Wagons Ltd. also jumped 4.5% intraday. The railway freight manufacturer also won an order worth Rs 1,617 crore, for the manufacture of 4,000 BOXNS wagons.
Both the orders were given by Indian Railways.
Indian Railway Finance Corp. and Ircon International Ltd. stocks also saw intraday rise of 8.8% and 3.46%, respectively.
Shares of Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd. also gained 5.85% intraday. The company is set to raise Rs 700 crore via qualified institutional placement at Rs 933 per share.
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