Railway Land Under Encroachment Equals 1,496 FIFA-Sized Football Pitches, Reveals RTI

Published 14 July 2026 · local

Railway Land Under Encroachment Equals 1,496 FIFA-Sized Football Pitches, Reveals RTI Published By, Last Updated: July 14, 2026, 11:45 IST The figures are consistent with

Railway Land Under Encroachment Equals 1,496 FIFA-Sized Football Pitches, Reveals RTI Published By, Last Updated: July 14, 2026, 11:45 IST The figures are consistent with the Centre's reply in Parliament, which stated that Indian Railways owned around 4.99 lakh hectares of land as of April 1, 2025. Rapid Read The biggest annual increase came in 2023-24, when encroachments jumped by nearly 268 hectares to 1,078.55 hectares. In a shocking revelation, more than 1,068 hectares of Indian Railways land remained under encroachment, enough to cover nearly 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums or roughly 1,496 FIFA-standard football pitches, with the total area under illegal occupation increasing by nearly 32% over the past five years. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the world’s largest cricket stadium by capacity, occupies around 63 acres, or approximately 25.5 hectares.

According to a Right to Information (RTI) reply as accessed by India Today, the data from the Railway Board showed that encroached railway land increased from 810.31 hectares in 2020-21 to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25. During the same period, only 98.02 hectares of land was reclaimed, indicating that fresh encroachments have outpaced removal efforts. The figures are consistent with the Centre’s reply in Parliament, which stated that Indian Railways owned around 4.99 lakh hectares of land as of April 1, 2025, of which about 0.21 per cent, or nearly 1,068 hectares, was under encroachment. According to data shared by the Railway Board’s Land and Amenities Directorate, encroachments briefly declined to 782.81 hectares in 2021-22 before rising sharply in the following years. The biggest annual increase came in 2023-24, when encroachments jumped by nearly 268 hectares to 1,078.55 hectares.

Although the figure dipped slightly in 2024-25, the overall trend remained upward. The government informed Parliament that reclaimed railway land is being used for infrastructure projects, including multi-tracking works, railway workshops, passenger terminals and freight terminals. Land not immediately required for railway operations is transferred to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercial development. The RTI response also highlighted gaps in record-keeping. The RTI application sought a 25-year history of encroachment on railway land. However, the Railway Board provided only a five-year snapshot. It also stated that location-wise or state-wise encroachment data is not maintained centrally, directing applicants to approach individual zonal railways for such information. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news.