Indian Railways faces a substantial encroachment issue involving land sufficient to contain nearly 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums or about 1,496 standard football fields.
An RTI reply obtained by India Today from the Railway Board indicates that 1,068.54 hectares of railway property remained encroached as of March 2025.
The situation shows no improvement. Records reveal encroachments grew during the previous five years, while reclamation efforts achieved only modest results.
The RTI request sought 25 years of encroachment records. The Railway Board supplied data covering just five years.
Encroached area increased from 810.31 hectares in 2020-21 to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25, a rise of roughly 32 percent.
These numbers align with the government’s March 2026 parliamentary statement. Officials reported that Indian Railways held about 4.99 lakh hectares of land as of April 2025, with 0.21 percent, or nearly 1,068 hectares, under encroachment.
The Narendra Modi Stadium covers approximately 25.5 hectares. The encroached railway land could therefore fit around 42 such venues.
In football terms, the area equals roughly 1,496 FIFA-standard pitches, excluding stands and facilities.
Year-wise figures from the Land and Amenities Directorate show a temporary drop to 782.81 hectares in 2021-22, followed by a sharp rise to 1,078.55 hectares in 2023-24.
Reclamation removed only 98.02 hectares over five years against the current total exceeding 1,068 hectares.
Recovered land supports railway projects such as track doubling, workshops, and terminals. Unused portions go to the Rail Land Development Authority for commercial use.
The Board stated it keeps encroachment data for five years only and does not hold location-specific records centrally.
