Nagpur Railway Budget 2026: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the General Budget 2026-27 in Parliament on Sunday. He said that the Central Government has made big and ambitious provisions regarding Railways. Naming the presented budget as #ViksitBharatBudget, he described it as historic for the country’s infrastructure, especially rail connectivity.

A record allocation of Rs 23,778 crore has been made for Railways in Maharashtra in the budget. However, amidst all these big announcements, there is disappointment and resentment regarding Nagpur and Vidarbha because Nagpur, which is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, has been left out of the high speed rail corridor.

Earlier, announcements of bullet train between Nagpur and Mumbai have been made. Despite being the geographical center of the country and a major rail junction, there is dissatisfaction among local passengers and railway organizations due to Nagpur not getting any concrete and direct gift in the budget.

These will be 7 high speed rail corridors

• Mumbai-Pune


• Pune-Hyderabad


• Hyderabad-Bengaluru


• Hyderabad-Chennai


• Chennai-Bengaluru


• Delhi-Varanasi


• Varanasi-Siliguri
  
  (These corridors are being seen as growth connectors of development, which will save time for passengers as well as speed up freight transportation. However, Nagpur, which is among the 15 cities playing an important role in the country’s economy, was completely ignored.)

Semi high speed trains are needed on these routes

Nagpur-Mumbai

Nagpur-Delhi

Nagpur-Chennai

Nagpur-Bengaluru

Nagpur-Howrah (Kolkata)

(Neither a single semi-high speed train nor a high speed rail corridor has been provided on any of these routes.)

Vidarbha also ignored

From Vidarbha’s perspective, the budget focused more on big cities and corridors, while the ground needs of areas like Central India and Vidarbha were ignored. Many social organizations have raised questions as to why direct long distance trains and new services were not announced from here when Nagpur is one of the most important rail junctions in the country.

Is Nagpur-Mumbai Bullet locked in a box?

It is noteworthy that after Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train, Nagpur-Mumbai-Nagpur Bullet Train was also announced in the high speed rail corridor. After this, the work from DPR to aerial survey was completed, but in the Budget 2026-27, Finance Minister Sitharaman made the name of Nagpur-Mumbai route disappear from the 7 high speed rail corridors.

This is raising doubts whether this ambitious project has been locked in a box? It is noteworthy that even during the redevelopment project of Ajni station, claims were being made that a bullet train platform would also be built here. In one stroke, the tracks of the previously announced Nagpur-Mumbai Bullet Train scheme were uprooted.