Hyderabad: The South Central Railway (SCR) announced on Wednesday that Telangana has been allocated Rs 5,366 crore from the Railway Budget for 2024-25. However, some railway experts believe this amount is not enough for the development of railway projects and infrastructure.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that Telangana has been granted Rs 5,336 crore for the year. This allocation is nearly six times more than the average budget for the combined State during 2009-14. Additionally, the entire railway network in Telangana is now 100 percent electrified.
Over the past 10 years, an average of 65 km of new railway tracks have been laid annually in Telangana. This is a significant increase compared to the 17 km per year during 2009-2014. To improve safety, 437 Railway Over Bridges (RoBs) and Railway Under Bridges (RuBs) have been built. Furthermore, 40 railway stations in the State are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme.
The 40 stations being redeveloped include Adilabad, Basar, Begumpet, Bhadrachalam Road, Gadwal, Hafizpeta, Hi-Tech City, Huppuguda, Hyderabad, Jadcherla, Jangaon, Kacheguda, Kamareddi, Karimnagar, Kazipet Junction, Khammam, Lingampalli, Madhira, Mahbubabad, Mahbubnagar, Malakpet, Malkajgiri Junction, Manchiryal, Medak, Medchal, Miryalaguda, Nalgonda, Nizamabad Junction, Peddapalli Junction, Ramagundam, Secunderabad, Shadnagar, Sri Bala Brahmeswara Jogulamba, Tandur, Umdanagar, Vikarabad, Warangal, Yadadri, Yakutpura, and Zahirabad.
Despite these developments, some experts argue that the budget is insufficient for the needs of the Railway department. Mahesh Yadav, a retired railway officer, commented, “The budget is not adequate for the development of rail-related projects and infrastructure. Regarding the State budget, I think the current government will not provide significant support to the department.”
