Indian Railways posts 25% growth in FY23 revenue at record Rs 2.4 lakh crore

The Indian Railways on Monday informed that it has registered a record revenue of Rs 2.40 lakh crore in the Financial Year 2022-23. This is nearly Rs 49,000 crore more than the previous year, reflecting 25 per cent growth. During this financial year 2022-23, freight revenue, too, has jumped to Rs 1.62 lakh crore, a growth of nearly 15 per cent from the previous year.

The railways' passenger revenues have registered an all-time high growth of 61 per cent to reach Rs 63,300 crore. After three years, the national carrier is able to fully meet the pension expenditures, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement. 

After meeting all revenue expenditures, the railways generated Rs 3,200 crore for capital investment from its internal resources. In terms of traffic revenue, the railways earned Rs 63,300 crore as passenger revenue in 2022-23 as compared to Rs 39,214 crore in 2021-22 - which is 61 per cent higher than the last financial year.

The national transporter earned Rs 5,951 crore as other coaching revenue in 2022-23 as compared to Rs 4899 crore during 2021-22, which is 21 per cent higher than the last financial year. The sundries revenue stood at Rs 8,440 crore during FY 22-23 as compared to Rs 6,067 crore in 2021-22 which is 39 per cent higher than the last year. During 2022-23, the gross revenue stood at Rs 2,39,803 crore compared to Rs 1,91,278 crore in 2021-22.

The railways said that it invested Rs 1 lakh crore in augmenting the capacity of its network and the Financial Year 2023 saw the highest-ever commissioning of new lines and doubling/multi-tracking of 5243 KMs. Besides this, 6,565 KMs of track were electrified with an investment of Rs 6,657 crore, propelling railways towards achieving the goal of 100 per cent electrification in current fiscal.

"Railways are focused on providing safety highest priority," the ministry said, adding that a total investment of Rs 25,913 crore was made towards safety in strengthening tracks, bridges, grade separators etc.

The ministry said that the higher investments in DFC (Dedicated Freight Corridor) and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project have ensured rapid progress in these projects. The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited or NHRSCL, which is managing the bullet train corridor, was provided Rs 12,000 crore, and the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India or DFCCIL was given Rs 14,900 crore.

"Vande Bharat is being proliferated on the system. Wagon procurement jumped by 77.6 per cent over the previous year to 22,747 wagons," the railways said.