India aims for $137bn railway investment

New Delhi - India's government unveiled plans on Thursday to invest $137bn in its decrepit rail network over the next five years, heralding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aggressive approach to building infrastructure needed to unlock faster economic growth.

Over the next year, India will increase investment by about a half to 1 trillion rupees ($16.15bn) including funds raised by market borrowing.

To meet the five year target, investment will have to speed up even more after that, leaving economists questioning where the money would come from as the government has to rein in its fiscal deficit.