Railway ministry plans to borrow Rs 50,000 crore from the market through the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) in the 2012-13 fiscal year, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said on Wednesday.
Speaking as he unveiled the ministry's budget to parliament, he also said India planned to invest Rs 7.35 lakh crore in the railways during the next five-year plan period that runs from 2012 to 2017.
The railway budget precedes the federal budget, to be presented in parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday, which is expected to push fiscal consolidation amid slowing economic growth and high inflation.
India's railway network is one of the world's largest, but years of low investment and populist policies have crimped growth and hindered private investment in a sector seen as crucial to the country's economic expansion.
"There has been considerable criticism of Indian railways in regards to only partial implementation or sometimes no implementation of the recommendation of several committees set up in the past," Trivedi told parliament.
"We need to have a system that delivers," Trivedi said.
The government planned to add 700 kilometres of new rail lines to its network in the fiscal year starting in April, Trivedi said.
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