CAG: Railways Sits on Goldmine, Fails to Monetize Vast Land Holdings

• CAG report reveals Indian Railways holds 4.88 lakh hectares of land, but commercial utilization is negligible.
• Only 62,740 hectares (13%) of total land was identified as vacant; merely 87.76 hectares (0.14%) handed to developers by March 2023.
• No commercial development projects commenced on allocated sites by March 2023, failing to generate additional income.
• Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), established for land utilization, developed only 8.8% of its allocated 997.83 hectares.
• Lack of coordination among Zonal Railways, RLDA, and Ministry led to 69% of 188 commercial proposals remaining pending.

Why It Matters: Indian Railways failed to generate non-fare revenue by commercially utilizing its vast land assets.