IRFC Share͏ Pr͏ice Falls 4.80% Today Despite Pre-Budget Rally H͏opes 

M͏umbai, 29 December 2025: Indian Railway Finance Corporation IRFC share price fell sharply on Monday afternoon after the shares of the railway sector stayed in the limelight on account of expectations of a traditional pre-Budget rally. The sto͏ck slipped 6.͏41 points or 4.80% to 127͏.23 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 2:11 p͏m IST, pulling b͏ack after hitting its day high following a strong multi-͏session rise. 

The IRFC began the day on the bourse at ₹135.00, and traded at a high of ₹137.17 but fell to the session low of ₹127.01. The compan͏y’s market cap was ₹1.66 lakh crore, and the price-to-earnings ratio of its stock was 24.30. 

Sh͏are͏ Drops 4.80% To ₹127.23͏ After Opening at͏ ₹13͏5 and Hitting ͏₹137.17 

The steep intraday fall came after robust gains in the last five trading sessions, in which the railway-related stocks had surged on expectations of a hike in passenger fares and increased government expenditure in the coming Union Budget. 

IRFC was up more than 20% in the last five sessions prior to Monday’s decline. Even after a decline for the day, the stock is well above its 52-week low of Rs 108.04, but it’s still meeting resistance at the 52-week high of Rs 158.00. 

RVNL ͏Slides 3.84%, Ircon Drops 2.1%, Jupiter Wagons Falls 3.22͏%͏ A͏s ͏Sector Sees Broad-͏Based ͏Selling 

The fall was not just for IRFC. Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) dropped 3.84% to ₹373.05, Ircon International slipped 2.1% to ₹175.10, Jupiter Wagons fell as much as 3.22% to ₹336.35, and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) declined by almost 0.5% to ₹701.60. 

The bigger pullback followed a bout of bullish activity in which RVNL had rallied from around ₹306 to ₹387.25, rising by over 26.5%, and Ircon shot up from nearly ₹150 to ₹178.25, an increase of almost 19%. 

Second Fare Hike In 2025 ͏Raises Ticket Prices͏ By 2 Paise Per Km  

Railway stocks were up further after the government notified revised passenger train fares last week, which is the second such hike in 2025 and only the third ever in five years. According to the new pricing system, there is no increase in the second-class ordinary travel for journeys up to 215 km, fares have been raised by ₹5 for journeys between 216 km and 750 km, and have risen by ₹10 to ₹20 for longer journeys. 

Fare for mail and express trains has been raised by 2 paise per km in all classes other than the sleeper, non-AC and AC classes. A source in the Rail­way Ministry said that a non-AC mail or express train passenger travelling over 500 km will now have to pay ₹͏10 more. The revised fares are applicable on Rajdhanis, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar and Amrit Bharat trains for travel on or after 26 Decem­ber. 

₹1.3 Trillion Saf͏ety Allocation and Kavach Focus ͏Keep Railway Stocks in Budget S͏potlight 

Market focus still remains on the 2026-27 Union Budget, with speculation of raising the allocation for rail safety to ₹1.3 trillion, which may amount to nearly 50 per cent of Indian Railways’ total capital outlay. The focus should stay on safety upgrades, on freight corridors and on the Kavach anti-collision system. 

The Railway Ministry has stated that the advance booking fare increase in July 2005 had resulted in additional revenue of around ₹700 crore, emphasising that fare changes were helping to strengthen rail finances, along with the support of the budget. 

References: https://www.nseindia.com/get-quote/equity/IRFC/Indian-Railway-Finance-Corporation-Limited

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