Nagpur :- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was expected to make some important announcements about the railway budget in the Union Budget 2024. The announcement of running broad gauge metro aka Vande Metro in Vidarbha was expected. Similarly, along with new trains like Vande Bharat between Nagpur Pune, there was an expectation of development of the region by creating a railway zone in Vidarbha. With a strong leader like Nitin Gadkari, the people of Vidarbha were confident that their expectations would be fulfilled. But disappointment was in store. Announcements related to the progress of the Namo Bharat initiative were expected to be included. On the other hand, the Center kept the capital expenditure as announced in the Interim Budget 2024. The government had allocated a budget of Rs 2.40 lakh crore for the Indian Railways in the budget 2023-24. Whereas, in the interim budget of 2024-25, this figure had reached Rs 2.52 lakh crore.
– Dr. Pravin Dabli – Former ZRUCC Member, – SECR
