India is set to expand its high-speed rail network with seven new corridors aimed at promoting faster and environmentally sustainable passenger travel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced while presenting the Union Budget 2026 on Sunday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday while presenting Union Budget 2026-27 announced plans to expand India’s rail network and promote environmentally sustainable passenger systems to develop high-speed rail corridors between cities.
Unveiling the roadmap, Sitharaman proposed corridors would improve connectivity between major economic and cultural centres while reducing the carbon footprint of long-distance travel.
“The government proposes to develop environmentally sustainable passenger transport systems through seven high-speed rail corridors,” she said in her Budget speech.
The proposed high-speed rail routes are:
Mumbai to Pune
Pune to Hyderabad
Hyderabad to Bengaluru
Hyderabad to Chennai
Chennai to Bengaluru
Delhi to Varanasi
Varanasi to Siliguri
This will operationalize 20 new National Waterways over the next five years Proposal to give incentives to indigenise the manufacturing of seaplanes that will enhance last-mile and remote connectivity and promote tourism.
The routes proposed above are expected to link major big cities with fast-growing urban and industrial landscape shaping and evolving into newer sects.
The high-speed rail announcement came as Sitharaman proposed a public capital expenditure of 12.2 lakh crore for FY27, up from 11.2 lakh crore in the Budget Estimates for FY26.
“To sustain infrastructure momentum, public capital expenditure of 12.2 lakh crore is proposed for FY27,” Finance Minister said.
Sitharaman announced a new dedicated East–West freight corridor connecting Dankuni in the east with Surat in the west. She also proposed the operationalisation of 22 new national waterways over the next five years to promote multimodal transport and reduce logistics costs.
“These initiatives will strengthen freight movement and support sustainable cargo transportation,” she said.
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