As expanding rail links to remote, depressed and hilly areas may not be financially viable, the government has decided to give more weight to the "intangible benefits" such as the social, environmental and network impacts of such projects.

The policy change will help the government to justify connectivity projects of new lines, track conversion, line duplication, etc., even if they do not generate a financial return. The Railways now no longer have to struggle to get financial sanctions for these projects.

The Ministry of Railways has sent a set of four new project proposals to the Niti Aayog for review, justifying their investment based on this new Modified Economic Internal Rate of Return model. These are: 30 km Kalyan-Murbad new line, 300 km Jalna-Jalgaon new line duplication of 98 km Ankai-Aurangabad (all three in Maharashtra); and the 100 km long Sabarmati-Sarkhej-Dholera new line in Gujarat.

The Niti Aayog only considers projects that involve an investment of more than Rs 500 crore. "Many more projects will be carried out on this concept in the future," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Railways. In the current financial year 2022-23, Railways has allocated Rs 670 billion for capital expenditures for new lines, track conversion and line doubling.

According to the toolkit prepared by the Ministry of Railways, the project assessment should answer questions such as travel time savings, savings in less stress on the road, increased safety, savings in fuel overall for the country, savings in vehicle operating costs, savings accrued due to reduction of pollution and the like.