Despite the Indian Railways push for modernisation and technological advancement, Research and Development (R&D) continues to be a severely neglected, as reflected in the Union Budget released yesterday.
The break-up of fund allocation revealed that allocation for R&D has been reduced by over by 15 per cent compared to previous fiscal year.
In FY 2024-25, the Railway Ministry was allocated Rs 72.01 crore for R&D activities, but for 2025-26, this figure dropped to Rs 60.80 crore.
Additionally, the revised estimates for research in FY 2024-25 came down to Rs 63.64 from the original Rs 72.01 crore. Typically, the revised estimates are higher than original allocations. For instance, revised estimates (RE) in 2024-25 for rolling stock, track renewals, etc, were more than the Budget estimates (BE). However, in the case of R&D, the RE in 2024-25 is over 10 per cent less than BE.
The Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) under Ministry of Railways is the sole R&D organisation of Indian Railways and functions as the technical advisor to Railway Board, zonal railways and production units.
RDSO’s major functions entail development of specifications for materials and products for railways, inspection of critical and safety items of rolling stock (including Metro), locomotives, signalling & telecommunication equipment and track components.
RDSO is also supposed to carry out technical investigations to improve safety and reliability and give statutory clearances after testing.
The tasks have a huge bearing on the safety of passengers, Yet research remains one of the most neglected activities of the Railways.
Owing to indifference to R&D work by the Railways, the RDSO is not able to spend even the meager sums allocated to it. According to official figures, against the revised estimates of Rs 107 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 66.52 cr in 2023-24 allocated to RDSO, the actual expenditure on research was 39.12 crore and Rs. 28.34 crore only, respectively.
The neglect of research by the Railways also caught the attention of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways. In its report on Demands for Grants (2024-25) submitted to the Parliament in December, the Committee urged the Ministry to increase the scope of its R&D activity.
“Research is a prudent investment in the long term for modernisation of Railways. The Committee would urge the ministry to take urgent steps to increase the scope of its Research & Development activities to ensure the modernisation and assimilation of latest technologies in the Railways”, the report stated.
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