Budget 2025: Industry pins hope for mega wagon orders, focus on freight infra development

With the Union Budget 2025-26 approaching, manufacture players are pinning hopes connected important announcements for the railway sector, peculiarly successful freight operations and infrastructure development.

The manufacture besides stressed the request to summation the mean velocity of freight trains to 50 kmph and deploy precocious 12,000 HP electrical locomotives.

Texmaxo Managing Director Sudipta Mukherjee expressed optimism for a important wagon order, gathering connected the government's 2022 announcement of astir 1.2 lakh wagon orders implicit 3 years.

"Out of the full 3 lakh semipermanent wagon procurement program to summation the full fig to six lakh wagons, the authorities had placed astir 1.2 lakh wagon orders successful 2022, which are expected to beryllium fulfilled by 2025. We anticipation the authorities volition repetition a akin mega bid for wagons successful the upcoming fund to propulsion the railways' stock successful logistics to 45 per cent from the existent 26-27 per cent," Mukherjee said.

He besides emphasised the request for accrued backing for safety, technology, and predictable bid moving infrastructure.

Vivek Lohia, Managing Director of Jupiter Wagons Limited, called for a multi-pronged attack to fortify freight operations.

He highlighted the value of accelerating the enlargement of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), including the projected 'Central India to Coast via DFC', to heighten the competitiveness of Indian industries.

Stressing the request to summation the mean velocity of freight trains to 50 kmph, deploy precocious 12,000 HP electrical locomotives, and summation freight bid length.

He advocated for strategical railway geography assessments for cardinal sectors similar mining, NTPC, petrochemicals, cement, steel, FCI, adust ports, fertilizers, and textiles.

Lohia further suggested prioritising superior expenditure connected modernising infrastructure, municipality obstruction projects, and innovative strategies specified arsenic the real-time accusation strategy (RTIS) and the separation of parcel postulation from rider operations.

He besides projected dedicated Kisan Rails for perishables to enactment cultivation proviso chains.

With the government's absorption connected sustainability and its net-zero mission, the logistics assemblage anticipates accrued attraction connected railways and waterways successful the upcoming budget. Expectations are rife for a 10-20 per cent boost successful the railway fund from the erstwhile allocation.

In the erstwhile fund presented successful July 2024, Railways received a grounds superior expenditure allocation of Rs 2.62 lakh crore. This summation is expected to money way expansion, the summation of high-speed Vande Bharat trains, and improvements successful obstruction freight.

An expenditure study of Indian Railways until January 5, 2025, pointed astatine important concern successful capableness augmentation.