Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Railway Budget for the second time after 5 July 2019. Here are some of the key highlights of Railway Budget 2020:
Nirmala Sitharaman announced the government will be setting up a Kisan Rail through PPP model.
More Tejas-like trains will be introduced to connect iconic tourist destinations in India. This will boost up tourism in the country.
Large solar power will be set up alongside the rail tracks on railway land. This will generate additional power for the nation.
Economists and officials alike believe the Railway Budget 2020 is just a cosmetic change as no new facilities have been announced at zonal levels. The only notable and luring things announced are Tejas Express between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and Bengaluru’s suburban transport system.
Economist Mohan Guruswamy said, “The railways budget is disappointing to say the least. It has a pan-India overview with no specific concentration on State level.”
Guruswamy is a former advisor to Union Finance Minister. He added that nothing has been mentioned about making railway infrastructure better by laying new tracks.
As of now 574 stations in the South Central Railway are offering Wi-Fi facilities. The figure includes 200 stations in Telangana alone. So, the speech of Nirmala Sitharaman to cover 550 stations with Wi-Fi facilities is contradictory.
Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget first in 2017 and since then the same has been followed. Earlier, 92 years, since the old colonial-era, it was not part of the Union Budget. The first Railway Budget in independent India was presented on November 26, 1947 by first finance minister Sir R.K. Shanmugham.
