In Budget’s capex push, focus on Railways and roads continues: 7 more high-speed rail corridors announced

“Operationalise 20 new National Waterways (NW) over next 5 years, starting with NW-5 in Odisha to connect mineral rich areas of Talcher and Angul and industrial centres like Kalinga Nagar to the Ports of Paradeep and Dhamra… Further, a ship repair ecosystem catering to inland waterways will also be set up at Varanasi and Patna,” said the Finance Minister.

Sitaraman’s announcement of the high-speed rail corridors aligns with the Centre’s push for higher capital expenditure. The government has allocated Rs 12.2 lakh crore for the financial year 2026-27 (FY27). This is an increase of around 9% from the capex allocation of Rs 11.21 lakh crore for the financial year 2025-26.

The roads and highways sector, alongside Railways, continues to be a primary driver of India’s infrastructure. The two sectors accounted for more than 50% of the Centre’s total capex in the previous financial year.

In FY 2024-25, the total capex for road transport and highways was Rs. 2.85 lakh crore. The figure was Rs. 2.52 lakh crore for Railways. The overall capex by the Centre was Rs 10.52 lakh crore during the period.

A major shift in India’s infrastructure investment came after the government began increasing the capex budget. Between FY19 and FY22, capex increased by 92% — from Rs 3.07 lakh crore to Rs 5.92 lakh crore. This momentum sustained over the years, with the capex outlay for FY26 increasing to Rs 11.21 lakh crore.

Capital expenditure on infrastructure has high multiplier effects. According to the Economic Survey for 2025-26, for every rupee spent on creating infrastructure, GDP increases by Rs 2.5 to Rs 3.5.

“Infrastructure continues to be central to India’s growth strategy, with public capital expenditure following a sustained upward trajectory since FY15 and gaining further momentum in recent years. Large-scale investments across roads, railways, ports, power, aviation and digital infrastructure have strengthened connectivity, expanded capacity and improved logistics efficiency, generating strong multiplier effects for growth and productivity,” the Survey said.

The ongoing Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed corridor will open in a phased manner, with the Surat-Bilimora stretch followed by Vapi-Surat, Vapi–Ahmedabad and the Thane-Ahmedabad sections. The entire corridor will be operational by 2029.

The high -speed projects are also cost and time intensive. The cost of the first Bullet train project has almost doubled to Rs 1.98 lakh crore. The total estimated cost at the beginning of the project was Rs 1.08 lakh crore. The ambitious project has been delayed by four years due to issues including land acquisition and the Covid-19 pandemic.