Union Budget 2026: FM Sitharaman announces 7 new high-speed rail corridors; check list

Union Budget 2026: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented her ninth budget, announced seven new high-speed rail corridors. She added that the government will map city economic regions and upgrade the infrastructure in Tier 2 and 3 cities as well as temple towns. 

In order to ease connectivity with cities, FM Sitharaman announced seven new high-speed rail corridors in the following routes: 

Mumbai–Pune
Pune–Hyderabad
Hyderabad–Chennai
Hyderabad–Bengaluru
Chennai–Bengaluru
Delhi–Varanasi
Varanasi–Siliguri

FM Sitharaman also announced a new dedicated freight corridor from Dankuni in the East to Surat in the West to promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo. She also announced a ship repair ecosystem catering to inland waterways to be set up at Varanasi and Patna. 

FM Sitharaman said the target for capex will be raised to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY27 from Rs 11.2 lakh crore for the current fiscal year. 

Apart from the development of Tier 2 and 3 cities, she also proposed to set up a risk guarantee fund for the infrastructure sector. The scheme for enhancement for construction and infrastructure equipment will strengthen domestic manufacturing, Sitharaman said.