Union Budget 2018-19 thrust on rail, aviation infra augurs well for OOH

Union Budget 2018-19, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha yesterday, provides for the expansion of railway and aviation infrastructure that augur well for the Indian OOH industry. The Budget has allocated a record Rs 1.48 trillion for Indian Railways to raise its carrying capacity and improve the train travel experience. The FM stated that the Government will be redeveloping 600 railway stations, equipping them with Wi-Fi and CCTV cameras, introduce modern train-sets, set up and escalators for stations with footfalls over 25,000.

The FM stated that Mumbai’s suburban rail system is being expanded at cost of Rs 10,000 crore, and an additional suburban network worth Rs 40,000 crore was also being planned, including elevated corridors. Similarly, 160 km of suburban rail network worth Rs17,000 crore has been planned for Bengaluru.

The FM also proposed to expand airport capacity five times, saying those who wear ‘hawai chappal’ will also be able to do ‘hawai yatra’. UDAN, the regional airport development scheme launched in 2017, will connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads in the country.

The rail and aviation infrastructure expansion will likely expand the traffic volumes in these sectors and in turn boost the advertising potentials and creation of new media formats to connect with the large audiences.