Budget 2019: Indian Railways to get PPP push for faster development

New Delhi, July 05: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that railways in India will be open for public private partnerships for faster development and completion of projects.

Presenting the the first Budget of the Modi 2.0 government Sitharaman said, 657 km of metro rail network has become operational across country while railway infrastructure will need Rs 50 lakh crore investment till 2030.

The FM further mentioned that Indian railways have been given a Rs 50 lakh crore allocation between 2018-2030. The capital expenditure on the other hand stands at Rs 1.5 lakh- Rs 1.6 lakh per annum.

Saying that schemes such as Bharat Mala, Sagarmala and UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) are bridging rural urban divide and improving transport infrastructure, she said "public private partnership to be unleased to develop rail infrastructure".

Since the year 2017 the Railway Budget and Union Budget have been merged to end the 92-year-old practice. And as the behemoth Indian Railways continues to be an important national carrier, Railway Budget will remain a key area in the main Union Budget 2019 speech.