NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday desisted from raising fares and freight rates in his second budget but promised to cut cost and exploit new sources of revenue beyond tariff as he announced three new superfast trains and completion of three freight corridors by 2019.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2016-17 in Parliament, he said the guiding principles to keep the modernisation of world’s fourth-largest network on track are new sources of revenue, expenditure optimization and new operating structure.
Thursday’s announcements included India’s first rail auto hub in Chennai, boost to e-catering, creation of dedicated north-south, east-west and east coast freight corridors by 2019; connectivity to North-East and Wi-Fi in railway stations.
Unlike last year when he tweaked freight rates to mop up an additional Rs 4,000 crore, Prabhu made no fresh changes either in passenger fares or freight rates.
Plan outlay for Railways has been put at Rs 1.21 lakh crore for 2016-17, up by about 20 per cent from the current year’s estimated expenditure. Its focus was on completion of the ongoing projects rather than announcing new ones.
“These are challenging times, may be one of the toughest
We are faced with two headwinds, entirely beyond our control; tepid growth of our economy’s core sectors due to international slowdown and the looming impact of the 7th Pay Commission and increased productivity bonus payouts,” he said in his over an hour long speech.
Slowdown in growth of passenger and freight revenues has put pressure on the railways’ finances and Prabhu said the railways would need to cut costs, grow its freight business which provides two-thirds of its revenue and target new sources of non-tariff revenue through measures such as redeveloping train stations.
Rail Budget 2016: Highlights
NeW DELHI: Presenting his second budget, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday unveiled pillars of strategy that would reflect the new thought process for the railways. Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2016
* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire nation
* Making all-out efforts to translate dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into reality
* Aiming to achieve operation ratio of 92 percent
* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year’s estimates
* Envisaging capital expenditure of Rs.1.21 lakh crore
* 2,800 km of broad gauge track conversion envisaged
* Seven km of broad gauge lines to be commisssioned every day during 2016-17
* Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every day by 2018-19
* Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years
* Rs.40,000 crore expected from the government as nudgetary support
* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire nation
* Making all-out efforts to translaste dream of Prime minister Narendra Modi into reality
* Aiming tom achieve operation ratio of 92 percent
* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year’s estimates
* Envisaging capistal expenditure of Rs.1.21 lakh crore
* Social media being increasingly used to ensure transparency
* Online booking of retiring rooms made possible
* 17,000 additional bio-toilets to be provided by the end of current fiscal
* Finalised bids for two new loco factories under Make in India initiative
* WiFi facilities at 100 more stations this year and 400 stations next year
* 2,800 km of broad gauge track conversion envisaged
* Seven km of broad gauge lines to be commissioned every day during 2016-17
* Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every day by 2018-19
* Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years
* Rs.40,000 crore expected from the government as budgetary support
* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire
* Making all-out efforts to translate dream of Prime minister Narendra Modi into reality
* Aiming tom achieve operation ratio of 92 percent
* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year’s
* Envisaging capital expenditure of Rs.1.21 lakh crore
* Local art to be highlighted at railway stations
* Academic facility at Vadodara being upgraded to university level
* Railways to generate 9 crore mandays of employment in 2017-18 and 14 crore mandays in 2018-19
* To increase lower berth quota for senior citizens by 50 percent
* Dedicated freight corridors envisaged for North-South, East-West and East Coast alignments
* Social media being increasingly used to ensure transparency
* Online booking of retiring rooms made possible
* 17,000 additional bio-toilets to be provided by the end of current
* Finalised bids for two new loco factories under Make in India initiative
* WiFi facilities at 100 more stations this year and 400 stations next year
* 2,800 km of broad gauge track conversion envisaged
* Seven km of broad gauge lines to be commissioned every day during 2016-17
* Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every day by 2018-19
* Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years
* Rs.40,000 crore expected from the government as budgetary support
* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire nation
* Making all-out efforts to translate dream of Prime minister Narendra Modi into reality
* Aiming tom achieve operation ratio of 92 percent
* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year’s estimates
* Envisaging capital expenditure of Rs.1.21 lakh crore
* LIC to fund Rs.1.5 lakh crore over five years on favourable terms
* Two elevated tracks envisaged from Churchgate and CST on Mumbai’s suburban railway system
* Specialised teams envisaged in specific areas to improve efficiency
* All-India 24X7 helpline for women
* Fully unreserved trains to be operated on high-density corridors
* Local art to be highlighted at railway stations
* Academic facility at Vadodara being upgraded to university level
* Railways to generate 9 crore mandays of employment in 2017-18 and 14 crore mandays in 2018-19
* To increase lower berth quota for senior citizens by 50 percent
* Dedicated freight corridors envisaged for North-South, East-West and East Coast alignments
* Social media being increasingly used to ensure transparency
* Online booking of retiring rooms made possible
* 17,000 additional bio-toilets to be provided by the end of current fiscal
* Finalised bids for two new loco factories under Make in India initiative
* WiFi facilities at 100 more stations this year and 400 stations next year
* 2,800 km of broad gauge track conversion envisaged
* Seven km of broad gauge lines to be commissioned every day during 2016-17
* Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every day by 2018-19
* Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years
* Rs.40,000 crore expected from the government as budgetary support
* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire nation
* Making all-out efforts to translate dream of Prime minister Narendra Modi into reality
* Aiming tom achieve operation ratio of 92 percent
* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year’s estimates
* Envisaging capital expenditure of Rs.1.21 lakh crore
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