The Centre may propose electrification of a record 7,000 km railway track in the Budget on February 1 as part of its efforts to achieve full electrification of broad-gauge railway lines by the end of next year.

In the Union Budget, the Centre may allocate close to Rs 10,000 crore for electrification in FY23, which will help the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification complete electrification of 7,000 km track, Mint reported quoting sources. Last year, the government had allocated Rs 7,452 crore for electrification projects in the Budget.

Electrification of tracks is likely to be a priority in this year’s Budget as the Indian Railways plans to become the world’s first 100 percent green railway system by 2030. As part of its efforts, the Railways targets electrification of all its routes by December 2023.

Much of the work would be completed this year instead of pushing it to the last year, the source said, adding that the planned electrification in FY23 may go beyond 7,000 km. This would leave only 5,800 km for full electrification of the total 64,689-km broad-gauge network of the Indian Railways.

The Railways has stepped up electrification work in the last seven years. The national transporter had already completed electrification of 45,881 km or 71 percent of the broad-gauge network by the end of FY21. By March 2022, this is expected to reach over 56,881 km. The government expects full electrification of the broad-gauge system to help reduce emissions and save about Rs 13,500 crore annually on the fuel bill.

The Centre may entrust some electrification projects to other agencies like Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. At present, the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification carries out electrification projects for the national transporter.

The Railways and Finance Ministries did not comment on the matter.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the railway budget along with the general budget on February 1. In her fourth budget presentation, Sitharaman is likely to increase the total outlay for the rail budget this year by 15-20 percent, IANS reported. In the previous budget, the finance minister had allocated Rs 1,10,055 crore to the Railways, which is likely to go by to Rs 2.5 lakh crore this year, the report said.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)