New Delhi: Indian Railways is grappling with a massive encroachment crisis, with illegally occupied land spread across 1,068.54 hectares, an area equivalent to nearly 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums or around 1,496 FIFA-standard football fields.
🚨 SHOCKING REVELATION
India's Railways has 1,068.54 hectares of land under ILLEGAL encroachment (as of March 2025) — equivalent to 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums or nearly 1,500 FIFA football pitches.
=> Just 98 hectares have been RECLAIMED over the last five years. pic.twitter.com/WgUyYkcI4r
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) July 15, 2026
According to a Railway Board RTI response, the extent of encroached railway land stood at 1,068.54 hectares as of March 2025. The situation has steadily worsened over the past five years, with encroachments increasing while land recovery efforts have achieved only limited success. The RTI application sought details of railway land encroachments over the past 25 years. However, the Railway Board furnished data for only the last five years. The records show that encroached railway land increased from 810.31 hectares in 2020-21 to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25, a rise of nearly 32 per cent.
The figures are consistent with the government’s reply in Parliament on March 27, 2026, which stated that Indian Railways owned about 4.99 lakh hectares of land as of April 1, 2025. Of this, nearly 1,068 hectares, or around 0.21 per cent, was under encroachment.
How Big Is 1,068 Hectares?
The scale of the encroached land is difficult to comprehend without comparison. To put it in perspective, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad—the world’s largest cricket stadium by seating capacity- covers about 25.5 hectares (63 acres). This means the total encroached railway land is roughly equivalent to 42 such stadiums.
Encroached Land Equals 42 Cricket Stadiums
The 1,068.54 hectares of railway land under encroachment is large enough to accommodate nearly 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums. In another comparison, it is roughly equivalent to 1,496 FIFA-standard football pitches, considering only the playing area and not the surrounding stands, parking, or other infrastructure.
Data provided by the Railway Board’s Land and Amenities Directorate shows that while encroached land briefly fell to 782.81 hectares in 2021-22, the decline was short-lived.
The figure surged to 1,078.55 hectares in 2023-24, marking the sharpest annual increase of nearly 268 hectares during the five-year period. Although the total dipped slightly to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25, the overall trend points to a steady rise in encroachments. Meanwhile, land recovery efforts have yielded limited results. Over the past five years, Indian Railways reclaimed only 98.02 hectares of encroached land, leaving more than 1,068 hectares still under illegal occupation.
How Reclaimed Railway Land Is Used
According to the government, the 98.02 hectares of land recovered over the last five years have been utilised for key railway infrastructure projects, including multi-tracking works, workshops, passenger terminals, and freight terminals.
Land that is not immediately required for railway operations is transferred to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercial development.
One of the most striking revelations in the RTI response is not the data that was shared, but the information the Railway Board does not maintain. When asked for a 25-year record of railway land encroachments, the Board stated that it maintains data for only the past five years. As a result, there is no centralised database tracking how encroachments on railway land have evolved over the decades.
The RTI also sought state-wise details of encroached railway land. However, the Railway Board said it does not maintain location- or state-specific encroachment data at the central level. It advised the applicant to approach the Public Information Officers (PIOs) of individual zonal railways for such information.
