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Indian Railways has attracted a total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow of USD 942 million from 2014-15 to 2025-26 (upto December 2025), including under the automatic route, according to an official release. This move is part of efforts to strengthen railway infrastructure and enhance global competitiveness.
As per the Government's FDI Policy Circular dated October 15, 2020, as amended from time to time, 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in the Railway Infrastructure sector. The permitted areas include construction, operation and maintenance of the suburban corridor projects through PPP, high speed train projects, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock including trainsets and locomotives/coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities, railway Electrification, signalling systems, freight Terminals, passenger terminals, infrastructure in industrial part pertaining to railway line/sidings including electrified railway lines and connectivity to main railway line, and mass Rapid Transport Systems. The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for capital investment in Railways was Rs 29,055 Crore in 2013-14. In order to provide adequate support for network expansion, rolling stock augmentation, safety improvement, passenger amenities, road safety works and technology upgradation, the Government of India consistently augmented the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) every year, and for 2026-27, Rs. 2.78 lakh crore has been allocated. Adequate domestic funding has helped the Indian Railway sector to invest more in infrastructure and technology in order to compete with the global market. Further, as an ongoing process of International technical collaboration, the Ministry of Railways has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Spain, etc. The MoU has been signed for technical cooperation in the areas of Freight and Passengers operations (Multimodal transport), High-Speed rail development, and IT solutions for railway operations and for administrative purposes, Predictive Maintenance of Assets, etc., the release stated. Over the past decade, India has developed a strong and diversified railway manufacturing eco-system comprising Indian Railways' Production Units and Industry base. Presently, the industry manufactures almost the entire range of railway rolling stocks such as locomotives, passenger coaches, wagons and critical components such as Traction motors, Gear Boxes, Motorised Bogies, Traction transformers, Metro cars, Propulsion system, Traction and Auxiliary converters, Cable harness, Electronic cards, Magnetics, etc. in India. These items are exported to both developed and developing countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the USA, France, Germany, Mozambique, Mexico, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Romania, Spain and Italy, etc., the release stated. With this supportive eco-system in place, during 2016-17 to 2025-26 (upto January 2026), the total value of exports in the Railway sector from India has reached US$ 3355 Million (approx. Rs. 26,000 crore). This information was provided by Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. (ANI)
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