Amid increased focus on railway infrastructure in light of the Odisha triple train crash, it has emerged that the Indian Railways spent much less on replacing old tracks in 2020-21 than estimated by the CAG.
The Railways said that it spent ₹13,523 crore from a non-lapsable Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh on track renewals in 2020-21, as per the Hindustan Times.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India had estimated that ₹44,936 crore would be needed for this work, the report said.
The cause of the Odisha train accident is yet to be ascertained. At least 278 people died, while around 1,100 were injured in the June 2 incident.