Amaravati, April 4 The Indian Railways' SCR Zone has allocated a capital expenditure budget of over ₹13,000 crore for the 2026-27 fiscal, aimed at further strengthening infrastructure such as new lines, doubling, track renewals, and others.
The capex rose by 18.3 per cent compared to the allocation of ₹11,012 crore in FY26, said A Sridhar, chief public relations officer of the South Central Railway (SCR) Zone.
"To continue this pace of infrastructure growth, the budget allocations in the current fiscal (2026-27) are also (on the) higher side compared to last FY (financial year). A capex of ₹13,026 crore has been allocated against ₹11,012 crore in the last FY (FY26), with an increase of 18.3 per cent," he said in an official release on Friday.
Out of the ₹13,026 crore earmarked for capex, Sridhar observed that ₹1,315 crore has been allocated for new lines, followed by ₹5,083 crore for railway track doubling, track renewals (₹1,908 crore), traffic facility (₹403 crore), and road safety works (₹683 crore).
In 2025-26, the railway zone focused on strengthening infrastructure, achieving 194 km of track addition, which included new railway lines, along with track doubling and tripling.
Nearly 36 km of new lines were laid between Mallavaram and Kanigiri, while railway line doubling stretched up to 79 km, amounting to 13.4 km between Panyam and Nandyal, followed by Basar-Navipet (17 km) and the bypass line at Kazipet (21.4 km).
Similarly, the Zone achieved railway line doubling for nearly 2 km of 'Y' connectivity at Tandur and another 2.1 km for the bypass line at Peddapalli.
Likewise, 79.8 km of railway track tripling was accomplished between Balharshah and Manikgarh, followed by Motumari-Madhira (5.8 km), Mahabubabad-Nekkonda (30.4 km), and Khammam-Dornakal (19.5 km). Importantly, the SCR Zone also electrified 325 track km in FY26, Sridhar said.
He observed that the third line works on the important Grand Trunk Route from Gudur via Vijayawada and Kazipet to Balharshah is almost complete for a distance of around 700 km, except for some small stretches.
According to Sridhar, completing this third line will enable the smooth flow of both passenger and freight traffic from South India to North India.
Further, he noted that the construction of bypass lines at Kazipet, Wadi, and Peddapalli, which are crucial and important railway junctions, will also greatly help in regulating traffic without delay.
The 'Y' connectivity constructed at Tandur will improve freight traffic originating around the Tandur segment and also coaching movement on the important Mumbai line, he said.
The addition of a new line between Mallavaram and Kanigiri will boost connectivity to remote villages by bringing them into the rail network, he said.
The SCR Zone network acts as a gateway between South India and North India, with the railway line from Gudur to Balharshah considered the grand trunk route, facilitating the continuous flow of both freight and coaching trains.
The rail line from Kazipet to Wadi via Secunderabad is also a high-density network, Sridhar said.
As the railway network in the SCR Zone is highly saturated, Sridhar underscored that infrastructure was fortified to reduce congestion and ease traffic.
