Hyderabad: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, February 1, proposed seven high-speed corridors among various cities, including Hyderabad, and a new dedicated freight corridor between Dankuni in West Bengal and Surat in Gujarat in the Union Budget for 2026-27.
“In order to promote an environmentally-sustainable passenger system, we will develop seven high-speed rail corridors between cities as growth connectors,” she said, while presenting the 1 hour and 25 minutes Union Budget.
High-speed corridors between Hyderabad, three cities
According to the minister, these proposed corridors will be developed between Mumbai and Pune, Pune and Hyderabad, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, Chennai and Bengaluru, Delhi and Varanasi and Varanasi and Siliguri.
Sitharaman said that to promote environmentally-sustainable movement of cargo, she proposes to establish a new dedicated freight corridor connecting Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west.
At present, work on one high-speed corridor between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is in progress. Similarly, two dedicated freight corridors – Eastern and Western – are in operation, covering several states and districts.
Centre to set up 5 university townships
Apart from high-speed corridors among various cities, including Hyderabad, the Centre will set up five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial logistics centres, the Union Finance Minister announced.
Presenting the Union Budget for 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman also announced the setting up of one girls’ hostel in every district of the country.
There are over 700 districts in the country.
The Finance Minister said the Budget proposes to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, for setting up content labs in 15,000 secondary schools.
