Railway Land Under Encroachment Can Accommodate 42 Narendra Modi Stadiums, RTI Reveals

Land belonging to Indian Railways that is currently under encroachment across the country is large enough to accommodate 42 stadiums the size of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, according to information disclosed by the Railway Board under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The RTI reply revealed that 1,068.54 hectares of railway land remained under illegal occupation as of March 2025, marking a sharp rise in encroachments over the last five years.

According to the figures provided by the Railway Board, the area under encroachment has increased by nearly 32% from 810.31 hectares recorded in 2020-21 to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25.

The encroached land is equivalent to approximately 42 stadiums similar in size to the Narendra Modi Stadium, recognised as the world's largest cricket stadium. Based on FIFA standards, the same area could also accommodate around 1,396 football grounds.

The RTI applicant had sought records of encroachments on railway land over the last 25 years. However, the Railway Board furnished details only for the previous five years.

The figures are also in line with information placed before Parliament on March 27, 2026, when the government stated that Indian Railways owned nearly 4.99 lakh hectares of land across the country, of which around 1,068 hectares were under encroachment as of April 1, 2025.

Encroachment trend over the last five years

The data showed that 2021-22 was the only year during the five-year period in which encroachment levels registered a decline, falling to 782.81 hectares.

However, encroachments increased sharply in subsequent years, crossing the 1,000-hectare mark in 2023-24 before witnessing a marginal decline in 2024-25.

Despite the slight reduction in the latest financial year, the broader trend indicates a sustained increase in illegal occupation of railway land across the country.