While it may seem impressive that spending on railway safety activities has soared from Rs 55.9 thousand crores in 2016-17 to Rs 1.08 lakh crores in the FY 2024-25 Budget Estimates, the real story lies in the details.
Despite this significant increase, the proportion of the total railway budget allocated to safety has remained stagnant and even declined since 2018-19 when measured as a percentage of total railway expenditure.
On the track renewal front, post 2021-22, expenditure has risen by a mere 6%, despite a spate of train derailments in recent years.
Another anomaly is that track renewal expenditure as a percentage of total railway spending has averaged just 3.4%, down from 4.2% in 2021-22. When measured as a percentage of total safety expenditure, this average is at 17%, having decreased sharply from 20.2% in 2021-22 to 16% in 2024-25.
This raises the question: what activities are consuming the remaining 84% of the safety budget?
The proportion of the track renewal in overall safety expenditure should be increased to prevent derailments and save lives in the future. This concern was previously highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report number 22 of 2022 on derailments in Indian Railways.
The report noted that the allocation for track renewal dropped from Rs 9,607.65 crores in 2018-19 to Rs 7,417 crores in 2019-20, and even these funds were not fully utilised. Out of 1,127 derailments during 2017-21, 289 (26%) were linked to track renewals.
Pranay Raj works as a Data Analyst at the Centre for Financial Accountability, New Delhi.
