As against last year when the Railways had lowered targets for most development projects, this year the railway ministry has decided to lay emphasis on track renewal, construction of new lines and gauge conversion.
There is, however, a downward revision for electrification and procurement of coaches.
An expenditure of Rs 3,919 crore on rolling stock is proposed for 2002-03. Out of this, Rs 3,752 crore will be for programmed deliveries of rolling stock, already on order, and Rs 167 crore for new acquisitions.
The fresh investment for locomotive purchase in 2002-03 is Rs 27 crore, apart from the expenditure of Rs 1,262 crore on previous orders. The allocation for carriages is Rs 38 crore, besides investments of Rs 964 crore on pending orders.
On wagons, it is Rs 81 crore (Rs 922 crore on pending orders), on cranes Rs 5 crore (Rs 65 crore on pending orders), and on rail car Rs 16 crore (Rs 321 crore on pending orders). The allocation for track machines for the year remains the same as last year, at Rs 218 crore. For this, orders have already been placed.
The provision for track renewal in 2002-03 is Rs 3516.5 crore, of which Rs 3189.86 crore is for the works in progress and the balance of Rs 326.64 crore is for new works.
For open line works, the provision is Rs 2,143 crore. Out of this, Rs 1152, or about 52 per cent, is earmarked for line capacity works and other operating improvements.
The balance of Rs 991 crore is for bridge works, road safety works, user amenities, staff quarters and amenities, staff quarters and amenities for staff.
The Railways have reduced the target for electrification of routes this year. While the revised target for last year stood at 430 kilometre, it has been brought down to 375 kilometre this year.
The target for the renewal of primary track has been raised from 2,500 km last year to 3,300 km this year.
But the target for secondary track has been reduced from 800 km last year to 700 km this year.
The targets for construction of new lines and gauge conversion have been doubled to 214 km (from 100 km) and to 542 km (from 211 km), respectively. Procurement targets for locomotives remain almost the same -- 90 diesel locos and 69 electric locos.
The Railways plan to procure 222 EMUs and metro coaches this year, as against 324 last year. The figure for wagons remains at 17,000 units.
