By Admin 
Railway Budget 2026: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present the Union Budget on Sunday, 1 February 2026. This will be his ninth consecutive budget. He presented his first budget in 2019. One of the most important reforms in the history of India’s budget was the merger of the Railway Budget with the Union Budget. This ended the practice that had been going on for 92 years.
Railway Budget and Union Budget
In India, the Railway Budget is being presented along with the Union Budget since 2017. The first joint budget was presented by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2017. Since that year, instead of two separate financial statements, only one consolidated budget speech is given in Parliament on 1 February at 11:00 am.
Why was the railway budget different earlier?
The tradition of a separate railway budget started in 1924 during the British rule. This decision was taken after the recommendation of the Acworth Committee. At that time Indian Railways accounted for about 84% of the total government expenditure. Because of this, it was very large and difficult to manage within the normal budget.
Dominance of railways in colonial economy
In the pre-independence era, railways were the backbone of India’s economy and administration. Freight traffic, passenger travel, military logistics and revenue all depended heavily on the railways. This large financial impact justified a separate rail budget.
What changed over the years?
With economic diversification and rise of the rest sector, the share of railways in the total budget gradually started decreasing. Till 2016, Indian Railways accounted for only about 15% of the total government expenditure. There is no longer any practical purpose in maintaining a separate budget.
decision to merge budgets
In 2016, a committee headed by NITI Aayog member Vivek Debroy recommended merging the Railway Budget with the Union Budget. The government accepted the proposal citing the need for simplification, transparency and better financial management. This decision formally ended a tradition that had been going on since 1924.
Benefits of rail budget merger
There have been many benefits from this merger. This has simplified the budget making process and allowed the Finance Ministry to allocate resources more efficiently. A big relief for Indian Railways was that it no longer had to pay annual dividend to the Central Government. This made funds available for infrastructure upgrades, security improvements and modernization.
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