Changing tracks

Investment in Indian Railways must be backed by reforms

The Union Budget for 2023-24, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Wednesday, saw a significant increase in the amount of public funds set aside for capital expenditure. As Ms Sitharaman pointed out, this was the third successive Budget with a major scale-up in government capital expenditure. Of the Rs 10 trillion set aside for this, more than half will go to the transport sector. And around half of that — about Rs 2.4 trillion — will go to the Indian Railways in particular, taking its capital expenditure to Rs 2.6 trillion for the year. The government