Indian Railways has 1,068.54 hectares of land under encroachment as of March 2025, an area equivalent to nearly 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums or 1,496 FIFA-standard football fields, according to an RTI response from the Railway Board.
The figure reflects a 32% increase over five years, rising from 810.31 hectares in 2020-21 to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25, despite limited progress in land reclamation.
Scale of railway land encroachment
The encroached area could fit 42 stadiums the size of Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, which spans 25.5 hectares. Alternatively, it matches the playing surface of 1,496 FIFA football pitches.
Indian Railways owns approximately 4.99 lakh hectares of land, with encroachments affecting about 0.21% of the total, per a March 2026 parliamentary response.
Five-year trend and reclamation efforts
Encroachments peaked at 1,078.55 hectares in 2023-24, marking the largest single-year jump of 268 hectares. Only 98.02 hectares were reclaimed over five years, a small fraction of the current backlog.
Reclaimed land is repurposed for railway projects like multi-tracking, terminals, or transferred to the Rail Land Development Authority for commercial use.
Data limitations and next steps
The Railway Board maintains encroachment records for only five years, with no centralized long-term data. State-wise details were not provided, directing inquiries to zonal railway offices.
