HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway (SCR) has achieved significant progress in the execution of various development projects with the utilisation of more than 54 per cent capital expenditure (CAPEX) funds during the current financial year 2023-24 up to August.
The utilisation of funds under CAPEX during the same period of the previous financial year i.e., 2022-23 was 34 per cent. SCR has been sanctioned a staggering gross amount of Rs 15,258 crore as a modified budget grant for the year 2023-24.
In this sanction, the gross budgetary support was Rs 15,205 crore towards capacity augmentation, safety-related works, customer amenity works and rolling stock acquisition for this financial year. The CAPEX incurred towards various projects up to August is Rs 8,286 crore. On the other hand, the CAPEX during the financial year 2022-23 stood at Rs 9,056 crore on a net basis.
Amongst the expenditure incurred towards the development projects undertaken during the first five months in the current financial year, Rs 3,999 crore was spent towards capacity augmentation works which include the construction of new lines, doubling, tripling, quadrupling, electrification and other traffic facility works; Rs 981 crore was incurred towards safety-related works like construction of road over bridges and road under bridges, track renewals, railway bridge works, signal and telecom works Rs 131 crores was incurred towards customer and passenger amenities works Rs 2,296 crore was incurred towards rolling stock and inventory; and Rs 879 crore was incurred towards expenditure for other assets.
The SCR has been able to achieve a record in CAPEX of more than 54 per cent in the first five months of the current financial year with meticulous planning so as to ensure faster execution of several infrastructure development projects. The creation of new infrastructure and provision of last-mile connectivity to various new lines has been accorded top priority. Redevelopment of important Railway stations and modification of freight terminals etc., have been given due importance.
Arun Kumar Jain, General Manager, has been laying emphasis on proper planning to ensure minimum delay in project execution. He appreciated the team for the progress made in the utilisation of CAPEX during the first five months of the current financial year.