Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday dodged queries on a timeline to install the Kavach train-collision-avoidance system across India.

The demand for Kavach, which has been in the works since 2012, peaked after a spate of railway disasters claimed hundreds of lives since 2023.

At present, Kavach protects a little over 2 per cent of the Indian Railways network. In the ₹262 lakh crore budget for the railways announced on Tuesday, ₹1,113 crore has been allocated for Kavach.

During a briefing on the railway budget, Vaishnaw told reporters: “Kavach-like systems were introduced in Europe in the 1980s and 90s. Unfortunately, for a long time, the governments India did not pay attention to this. After coming to power, Modiji immediately focussed on this.”

He said the latest Kavach 4.0 was approved only last week and railway disasters have come down by 60 per cent during the Narendra Modi government. “Now we can rapidly start rolling it out....Very soon we will be coming out with a complete action plan which we will share with you,” Vaishnaw said.

When The Telegraph asked for a timeline, he replied that the plan to install Kavach 4.0 would be revealed “in the coming months and weeks”.

On Bengal, the minister said: “The amount being given to the state during Modiji’s tenure is comparatively higher than (what was given) when there was a railway minister from Bengal…. Our only request to the Bengal government is that they cooperate, pay attention to cooperative federalism and give full support in land acquisition, law and order.”

Trinamool MPs, including Mamata Banerjee, cumulatively held the ministry for more than three years during the second UPA government.