Amrit Bharat Station Scheme

Policy Update
Paridhi Passi

Introduction

Railway stations in India have long functioned as more than transit points: they anchor local economies, connect regions to national supply chains, and shape how a town or city is perceived by visitors and investors alike. As India pursues its Viksit Bharat vision, modern, well-connected stations are increasingly seen as levers for logistics efficiency, tourism growth, and ease of doing business, not just passenger convenience. It is against this backdrop that station redevelopment has moved from a peripheral upgrade exercise to a core infrastructure priority. 

Indian Railways carries more passengers daily than the population of several countries, yet for decades its stations, barring a handful of metro hubs, remained functional but unremarkable. The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme was conceived to change that at scale rather than station by station. Launched by the Ministry of Railways in December 2022, the scheme envisages the redevelopment of railway stations across the country into modern, passenger-friendly hubs, treating each station not merely as a transit point but as a long-term city centre for the region it serves.

Background

Earlier efforts like the Adarsh Station Scheme of 2009-10 were limited to incremental amenity upgrades at a small number of stations, without a unified master-planning framework. The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme marks a shift in scale and design philosophy, applying a continuous, city-centre-style redevelopment model across a far larger set of stations, revised upward over time from 1,275 to 1,309, and most recently to 1,337, per successive Ministry replies to Parliament.

The scheme also sits within a broader ecosystem of national infrastructure initiatives, including PM Gati Shakti, the National Rail Plan, Transit-Oriented Development, and the Smart Cities Mission, positioning it as the railway sector’s contribution to India’s infrastructure-led growth strategy.

Its objectives are to modernise amenities, improve accessibility, integrate stations with the surrounding urban fabric, and give each station a distinct, regionally rooted identity, all while keeping stations operational through construction. Rather than a one-time renovation, the scheme follows a continuous master-planning approach, with each station’s plan shaped by its specific needs and passenger footfall rather than a uniform template.

Table 1: Amrit Bharat Station Scheme at a Glance

Source: Ministry of Railways, Government of India; Press Information Bureau.

Functioning

The scheme’s core idea is to redevelop stations as integrated city centres, connecting both sides of a city, improving traffic circulation, and strengthening inter-modal connectivity between rail, road, and other transport modes. Station buildings under the scheme are designed to draw on local culture, heritage, and architecture rather than following a single national design, giving each redeveloped station a distinct regional identity. Master planning under the scheme also covers executive lounges, spaces for business meetings, landscaping, and sustainable elements such as ballastless tracks where feasible.

Implementation runs through Indian Railways’ zonal structure. Each railway zone identifies its own set of stations for redevelopment and executes work through its operating divisions. For instance, Central Railway identified 76 stations across its Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Bhusawal, and Solapur divisions for upgradation, including 15 suburban stations in Mumbai. The Ministry has also indicated it is exploring multiple execution models, including Engineering, Procurement and Construction contracts, non-EPC modes, and a limited number of stations under Public-Private Partnership arrangements, with Rani Kamalapati station in Madhya Pradesh already commissioned through the PPP route, given the complexity of upgrading operational stations without disrupting passenger and freight movement.

Table 2: Scheme Components and Institutional Structure

Source: Ministry of Railways, Government of India.

Performance

The scheme has moved from foundation-laying to actual inauguration in phases. Foundation stones were laid in two rounds, on 6 August 2023 and 26 February 2024, covering hundreds of stations nationwide. On 22 May 2025, the first major batch of redeveloped stations was inaugurated, with 103 Amrit Bharat stations spanning 18 states brought into service at a combined cost of over Rs. 1,100 crore. Uttar Pradesh accounted for the largest share of this batch with 19 stations, followed by Gujarat with 18 and Maharashtra with 15.

Figure: Inauguration of Railway Stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme

Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 

Progress has continued to build on this base. As of the most recent parliamentary update, works have been completed at 180 stations nationally, out of the 1,337 stations now identified. In Maharashtra specifically, 15 stations have been completed, including Chinchpokli, Matunga, Parel, Devlali, and Dhule, out of 132 stations identified in the state, with Rs. 11,190 crore allocated and Rs. 9,198 crore spent under the relevant railway budget head across the last three years and the current year.

Table 3: Progress Milestones

Source: Ministry of Railways, Government of India; Press Information Bureau.

Beyond these numbers, early outcomes point to tangible gains in passenger experience: improved waiting areas, better signage, and upgraded accessibility features for Divyangjan at completed stations. Multimodal connectivity has also strengthened at several redeveloped stations, easing the transition between rail, road, and other transport modes. Some redeveloped stations have additionally reported early upticks in footfall-linked commercial activity and local tourism, though a systematic, scheme-wide assessment of congestion reduction and revenue growth is yet to be published.

Individual stations illustrate the scheme’s design intent in practice. Rani Kamalapati station in Bhopal, redeveloped under a PPP model, offers airport-style amenities and has become a reference point for the scheme’s more ambitious redevelopments. Gandhinagar Capital station, integrated with a five-star hotel, reflects the scheme’s city-centre approach. Ayodhya Dham station, redesigned around temple-inspired architecture, demonstrates the scheme’s emphasis on drawing design from local culture and heritage. 

Emerging Issues

Redeveloping stations that remain fully operational throughout construction presents a genuine logistical challenge, since disruptions at major stations can have cascading effects across the wider rail network. Several statutory clearances, including fire, heritage, tree-cutting, and airport clearances where applicable, add procedural time to individual projects. Brownfield-specific complications, such as the need to shift existing water and sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipelines, and power and signal cables, have also been cited by the Ministry as factors affecting the pace of progress at individual stations. The Ministry has itself stated that no fixed completion time frame can be indicated for the scheme because of this complexity.

Given that 1,337 stations have now been identified but only 180 have been completed so far, the gap between stations identified and stations actually finished remains the scheme’s most visible execution challenge. Funding continuity is a related concern, since station modernisation depends on sustained allocation under Plan Head-53 over several years rather than a single capital infusion, and allocation is tracked zone-wise rather than station-wise, which limits fine-grained monitoring. Cost overruns at complex brownfield sites have occasionally required budgetary revisions, and implementation has also been shaped by practical limitations, such as slower progress at stations with heavy utility-shifting needs, showing that funding availability alone does not guarantee proportional completion speed. 

Way Forward

Prioritising stations with lower brownfield complexity for early completion, while running parallel, longer-horizon planning for stations with heavier utility-shifting requirements, would help the scheme show consistent visible progress rather than uneven completion across zones. Standardising the statutory clearance process across zones, with clear timelines published for each clearance type, would reduce the delays currently attributed to procedural steps. Zones that have already demonstrated strong execution, such as Central Railway’s rollout across its five divisions, could serve as internal benchmarks for slower-moving zones.

Suggestions

A public station-wise progress tracker, updated periodically by the Ministry of Railways, would let passengers and policymakers alike see exactly where each of the 1,337 identified stations stands, from planning to completion, rather than relying on periodic parliamentary replies. Given the scheme’s emphasis on stations as “city centres,” formal coordination with state urban development departments and municipal bodies at the design stage, rather than only at the construction stage, would help ensure surrounding road and transit connectivity keeps pace with the redeveloped stations themselves. Finally, moving fund-tracking from a zone-wise basis to a station-wise basis would allow Parliament and the public to assess cost efficiency at individual stations rather than only at the zonal level.

Introducing a real-time digital dashboard for project monitoring, commissioning periodic independent third-party audits, and running passenger satisfaction surveys at completed stations would strengthen both accountability and course-correction. Incorporating green building certification and solar-powered installations at redeveloped stations would align the scheme with sustainability goals, while AI-based crowd management systems at high-footfall stations could help address congestion as passenger volumes grow. 

Conclusion

The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme represents one of Indian Railways’ most ambitious infrastructure undertakings in recent years, both in the number of stations it targets and in its shift toward viewing stations as long-term urban assets rather than isolated transit points. The inauguration of 103 stations in May 2025 demonstrated that the scheme can move from paper to platform, and the completion of 180 stations nationally shows the pipeline is genuinely active. With 1,337 stations identified against a much smaller number completed so far, the scheme’s long-term success will depend on sustained execution pace, disciplined handling of brownfield and clearance-related delays, and continued budgetary commitment across the years it will take to finish the job.

References

1. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2022). 1275 railway stations have been identified under Amrit Bharat Station scheme. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1911975
2. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2023). 1309 Railway Stations have been identified under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for their development. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1941449&reg=3&lang=2
3. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2023). Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: 76 Railway Stations over Central Railway including 15 Railway Stations in Mumbai. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1945922
4. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2023). Ministry of Railways launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for development of stations. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1983976&reg=3&lang=2
5. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2024). 1318 number of stations have been identified for development/redevelopment under Amrit Bharat Station scheme. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2001903
6. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2025). Prime Minister to inaugurate 103 Amrit Stations including 15 stations in Maharashtra on 22 May 2025. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2130221
7. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2025). Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: 15 Stations Completed in Maharashtra, Work Advancing Statewide. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2198376&reg=3&lang=2
8. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2026). Amrit Bharat Station Scheme Making Rapid Progress Nationwide; 8 More Stations Redeveloped in a Month, Total Now 180. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2238954&reg=3&lang=2

About the Contributor

Paridhi Passi is a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI and a Political Science (Hons.) student at Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. Her academic interests lie in public policy and governance.

Acknowledgement 

The author extends sincere thanks to the IMPRI team for their guidance.
Reviewed by: Nayanshi Jain & Sruti Halder

Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.

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