A record provision of Rs 400 crore for construction of new lines in 1997-98 is one of the highlights of the Railway Budget. This is 82 per cent higher than the current years outlay of Rs 220 crore. An additional amount of Rs 10 crore has been allocated for purchase of new lines, for which there was no provision in the previous Railway Budget.
Union railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the emphasis during the next financial year would be on development of railway infrastructure in the backward and north-eastern parts of the country. Accordingly, more than Rs 300 crore has been provided for development and expansion of railway infrastructure in the north-eastern states alone. More than Rs 100 crore had already been provided for expansion of railway lines in J&K in the current financial year, he added.
The expenditure on gauge conversion will remain almost unchanged. Against the revised expenditure of Rs 1,021 crore on Project Unigauge during the current financial year, next years outlay has been fixed at Rs 996 crore.
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Paswan claimed that the railways would be able to complete 6,900 km of gauge conversion during the eighth plan, which is well over the target of 6,000 km.
The minister said efforts were on to complete the target of electrification of 634 route km in 1996-97. If the target is achieved, it would take the total distance of fully electrified tracks to 13,509 route km.
Paswan announced plans to electrify the dense corridors, some of the missing links and the high density route on the east coast line. An outlay of Rs 350 crore has been provided for this purpose in 1997-98 against the provision of Rs 330 crore in the current financial year.