Union Budget 2026 | Seven high-speed rail corridors, City Economic Region launched to drive urban growth

In a major relief to many citizens, the Union Budget 2026 session announced seven high-speed rail corridors to be developed between cities as 'growth connecters'.

The routes between Mumbai to Pune, Pune to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Hyderabad to Chennai, Chennai to Bengaluru, Delhi to Varanasi, and Varanasi to Siliguri were announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as 'growth connectors' to promote environmentally sustainable passenger systems.

In an effort to promote environmentally sustainable cargo systems, the minister also proposed to establish a new dedicated freight corridor connecting Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west.

It was highlighted that the Budget focused on tier-2 and tier-3 cities, while also keeping in mind temple-towns that require modern infrastructure and other basic amenities.

A scheme for container manufacturing has been suggested to create a global manufacturing ecosystem with an allocation of Rs 10,000 crore over a period of five years.

Furthermore, Rs 5,000 crore have been allocated per City Economic Region to implement plans through a challenge mode with a reform-cum-results-based financing mechanism to promote development and urbanisation.

"This Budget aims to further amplify the potential of cities to deliver the economic power of agglomerations by mapping city economic regions (CER), based on their specific growth drivers," Sitharaman said during her speech.