Budget 2022: 400 Vande Bharat trains and 100 Gati Shakti cargo terminals to kick off in three years

The core equity indices, i.e., Sensex and Nifty ended on a higher note on Budget Day.

The core equity indices, i.e., Sensex and Nifty ended on a higher note on Budget Day.  

Sensex went up by 848.40 points or 1.46 per cent. The top five gainers from the pack were Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and UltraTech Cement. Meanwhile, on the flip side, the top losers included Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid Corporation of India, SBI, Bharti Airtel, and NTPC.  

BSE Oil & Gas sector showed a bearish trend throughout the day. The index was at 18,503.07, down by 0.91 per cent. The top gainers were GAIL, Adani Total Gas, Gujarat Gas, IGL, and Petronet LNG. Each of these scrips was up by 2 per cent. The stocks dragging the index were HPCL, BPCL, IOC, ONGC, and Reliance Industries.  

FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced a paperless Union Budget in the parliament for the financial year 2022-23. The Railway Budget, now merged with the General Budget, has seen many announcements to upgrade the Indian Railways network.  

As a part of the major announcements regarding the infrastructure sector, FM Sitharaman announced the PM Gati Shakti Masterplan, which would see massive government spending in the fields of roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways, and logistics infrastructure. Terming them as seven ‘engines’ of growth, Sitharaman said that highways in the country will see the expansion of around 25,000 kms.   

In terms of the major rail announcement, Sitharaman said that there will be 400 Vande Bharat trains in India in the next three years. The railway sector will also see 100 Gati Shakti Cargo terminals, which will be developed during the same time period.   

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Railways will develop new products as well as efficient logistics services for small farmers along with small & medium enterprises, other than taking the lead in the integration of postal and Indian Railways network in a bid to provide seamless solutions for the movement of persons.   

Moreover, the minister further said that ‘One Station One Product’ will be popularised in order to help local businesses as well as the supply chain.