Railway stocks such as Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), Ircon International, RailTel Corporation of India, and some more are in focus ahead of the Union Budget presentation on 23 July.

Following the interim budget on 1 February, the railway stocks have shown profits ranging somewhere from about 11% to 112%. RVNL is leading with a robust 112% increase, followed by IRCON with a 44% increase and RailTel with a 37% increase, respectively.

The government plans dedicated tracks for coal and mineral transport, improved port connectivity, and congestion-reducing measures. CareEdge Ratings predicts a 12-15% increase in the budget allocation in the upcoming Union Budget.

Reforms expected include a hybrid annuity model to boost public-private participation and asset monetisation in railways. The railway industry urges the government to maintain capital expenditure in the budget.

Former officials and experts stress the importance of focusing on safety in railways. Experts recommend prioritising energy, mineral, and cement corridors and increasing investment in technologies like rail-road connectivity, IoT, automation, blockchain, cloud computing, AI, and robotics for logistics development. They have also highlighted increased track construction pace, investments in high-speed trains, and rolling stock as positive developments for the railway sector.

Some challenges include the absence of a regulatory body and limited public-private participation. The conversion of rail bogies to Vande Bharat standards could boost Vande Bharat Train capacity by 50-60 times in the medium term. 

Economic rail corridors and station redevelopment are ongoing priorities, according to CareEdge. Expectations include a budgetary allocation increase to between Rs 2.8-2.95 lakh crore, with plans for Kavach Tender and introduction of 250 Amrit Bharat Trains in the coming years, as per Raj Vyas from Teji Mandi.

The entire industry urges the government to introduce a PLI scheme for the production of railway ancillary parts.

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