Railway ministry registers record capex in H1FY26 at ₹1.42 lakh crore

The Union railways ministry has registered a record capital expenditure in the first half of the current fiscal. Capital expenditure by the ministry stands at ₹1,42,487 crore till September this year, showing a utilisation level of 56.5%.

A top source in the government said the ministry has achieved record capital expenditure utilisation till September. Of the total budgetary grants worth ₹2,52,200 crore for the current fiscal, the overall capex utilisation by the Indian Railways stands at ₹1,42,487 crore, or 56.5%,  which is the highest ever capex utilisation till date.

“The key sectors in which the capital expenditure has been utilised are safety works, including KAVACH-related works, track renewals, road overbridges, bridges and level crossings. Under these segments, out of the total allocation worth ₹39,456 crore for the entire year, allocation till the month of September stands at ₹22,286 crore,” the source said.

On the capacity augmentation front, ₹49,001 crore (45%) has been spent on new lines, doubling, gauge conversion, electrification, and metropolitan transport out of the total FY26 allocation of ₹1,09,986 crore.

The ministry has spent ₹5,863 crore (49%) on customer amenities till the month of September, against a Budget allocation of ₹12,004 crore. On the rolling stock front, the utilisation till September stands at ₹25,948 crore (46%) against the budgetary allocation of ₹56,693 crore.

The ministry seems to have stepped on the gas on the implementation front and may fully utilise, or may even overshoot the Budget Estimate of ₹2,52,000 crore for capital expenditure in the current financial year. In the previous financial year too, the ministry had achieved the targeted expenditure. It may be noted that in both FY25, and FY26, the capital expenditure allocation to the railways ministry stands at ₹2.52 lakh crore.

In FY24, the ministry had overshot its capital expenditure target of ₹2.40 lakh crore and spent ₹2.42 lakh crore. The total amount the ministry of railways has utilised in capital expenditure stands at ₹9,13,439 crore.