Mumbai, December 29 (IANS). Shares related to Indian Railways have seen a rise again after a long time. Railway sector shares have seen good growth in the last five trading sessions.
Due to this increase, the market cap of railway related companies has increased by about Rs 66,500 crore. Investors are investing again in view of the upcoming Union Budget and the earnings signs of companies are also looking better.
Railway shares were under pressure for a long time in the year 2025. Shares had fallen after the sector hit a high in July 2024. Many stocks had fallen due to high prices and low expectations of government support.
The increase now shows that investor confidence is gradually returning. The reason for this is increase in fares, expectations from the budget and good news related to some companies.
Jupiter Wagons remained at the forefront of this boom. Its shares rose nearly 37 percent in just five days. Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) rose nearly 27 per cent and those of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) rose more than 20 per cent.
Apart from this, shares of companies like IRCON International, Titagarh Rail Systems, RailTel Corporation, Texmaco Rail & Engineering, RITES and BEML also saw good growth.
However, despite such a rise, most of the railway stocks are still below their old high levels.
A major reason for this increase is the increase in passenger fare by Indian Railways from December 26. This is the second time that the fare has been increased in the financial year 2026. For long distance journeys, fares for normal, mail and express trains have been increased by 1 to 2 paise per kilometre. However, there has been no increase in the fares of local and suburban trains.
Due to this fare increase, Railways is expected to earn additional income of about Rs 600 crore in the current financial year.
At present, passenger train services are running in loss as the fare is about 45 percent less than the cost. This loss is compensated by the earnings from freight transportation.
This change in fare will increase the income of Railways, reduce losses and will help in improving the financial condition of Railways.
–IANS
DBP/ABS