The Indian Railways plans to commission 6.85 km of tracks per day in the current fiscal year, up from 5.4 km a day in the last fiscal year. Overall, it will commission 2,500 km of tracks in FY16 against 1,980 km in FY15.
“Our consumption this year is expected to be 13 lakh tonnes of steel, 30 lakh tonnes of cement, 40,000 km of signaling cable and 7,000 tonnes of copper wire. This will be through a mix of direct and indirect demand. This is an assured demand,” V.K. Gupta, Member-Mechanical, Indian Railways has been quoted as saying.
Between FY16 and FY20, the Indian Railways will build 17,000 km of tracks, of which 2,000 km will be new lines, 4,000 km will be gauge conversion and 11,000 km will be doubling, he adds.