Much less spent on renewal of tracks than CAG flagged: Data

With questions being asked of its track maintenance following the horrific accident in Balasore on Friday, Indian Railways has said that it spent ₹13,523 crore from a non-lapsable Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) on replacing old tracks (track renewals) in 2020-21, although the number was still short by ₹44,936 crore of the amount the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) estimated would be needed for the purpose.

- Neha LM Tripathi, Rajeev Jayaswal and Roshan Kishore

NEW DELHI: 

In its 23rd report of 2022, the government’s auditor said the Railways’ Depreciation Reserve Fund (DRF) meant for replacement and renewal of assets was “insufficient”; that only ₹671.92 crore was spent from the fund 2020-21 even as ₹58,459 crore was required for track renewals alone that year.

To be sure, the Balasore accident is believed to have been caused by a malfunction of or interference with either a signal or an interconnection or both, according to a preliminary report.

Only a detailed investigation can ascertain the reason for the crash involving three trains that resulted in the deaths of at least 275 people. And to be sure, not all overage tracks are unsafe or unusable.

Government officials, who asked not to be named, said that the actual trend of expenditure on track renewal on Indian Railways has increased from ₹47,039 crore between 2004-05 and 2013-14 to ₹1,09,023 crore between 2014-15 to 2023-24 (budget estimates), reflecting an increase of over 100%.

But the government’s auditor still found the spends wanting. Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) also suggested that some of the increase may have been caused by higher costs.

Railways maintains DRF for replacement and renewal of assets, the CAG report said. “During 2020-21, ₹400 crore was appropriated against the BE of ₹1,000 crore and ₹671.92 crore spent from the fund. The amount is insignificant compared to the actual amount required for the renewal and replacement of over aged assets,” it said.