Budget 2017 - 2018 - INFRASTRUCTURE

INFRASTRUCTURE in Budget 2017 - 2018

For transportation sector as a whole, including rail, roads, shipping, provision of ` 2,41,387 crores has been made in 2017-18.
For 2017-18, the total capital and development expenditure of Railways has been pegged at ` 1,31,000 crores. This includes ` 55,000 crores provided by the Government
For passenger safety, a Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh will be created with a corpus of ` 1 lakh crores over a period of 5 years
Unmanned level crossings on Broad Gauge lines will be eliminated by 2020
In the next 3 years, the throughput is proposed to be enhanced by 10%. This will be done through modernisation and upgradation of identified corridors.
Railway lines of 3,500 kms will be commissioned in 2017-18. During 2017-18, at least 25 stations are expected to be awarded for station redevelopment.

500 stations will be made differently abled friendly by providing lifts and escalators.
It is proposed to feed about 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term
SMS based Clean My Coach Service has been started
‘Coach Mitra’, a single window interface, to register all coach related complaints and requirements to be launched
By 2019, all coaches of Indian Railways will be fitted with bio toilets. Tariffs of Railways would be fixed, taking into consideration costs, quality of service and competition from other forms of transport
A new Metro Rail Policy will be announced with focus on innovative models of implementation and financing, as well as standardisation and indigenisation of hardware and software
A new Metro Rail Act will be enacted by rationalising the existing laws. This will facilitate greater private participation and investment in construction and operation.

In the road sector, Budget allocation for highways increased from 57,976 crores in BE 2016-17 to ` 64,900 crores in 2017-18
2,000 kms of coastal connectivity roads have been identified for construction and development
Total length of roads, including those under PMGSY, built from 2014-15 till the current year is about 1,40,000 kms which is significantly higher than previous three years
Select airports in Tier 2 cities will be taken up for operation and maintenance in the PPP mode
By the end of 2017-18, high speed broadband connectivity on optical fibre will be available in more than 1,50,000 gram panchayats, under BharatNet. A DigiGaon initiative will be launched to provide tele-medicine, education and skills through digital technology
Proposed to set up strategic crude oil reserves at 2 more locations, namely, Chandikhole in Odisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan. This will take our strategic reserve capacity to 15.33 MMT
Second phase of Solar Park development to be taken up for additional 20,000 MW capacity.
For creating an eco-system to make India a global hub for electronics manufacturing a provision of ` 745 crores in 2017-18 in incentive schemes like M-SIPS and EDF.
A new and restructured Central scheme with a focus on export infrastructure, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) will be launched in 2017-18