Railway Budget 2014: Key Facts and Figures on Income and Expenditure

Railway Budget 2014: Key Facts and Figures on Income and Expenditure

New Delhi:  The new railway budget announced on Tuesday did not make any big bang announcements. Instead, Sadanand Gowda, the railway minister focused on consolidating finances of the railways.  Here are pointers that explain railway’s finances:

1.    INCOME: The railways income through passenger, freight makes gross traffic receipts. The government expects gross traffic receipts at Rs.1,64,000 crore in 2014-15. Two-thirds of that is expected from freight. This is higher than Rs.1,39,000 crore in 2013-14. Gross traffic receipts fell short of the target by Rs.942 crore. This puts an additional burden in 2014-15. The railway minister said that the market borrowing would be around Rs.11,790 crore in 2014-15. He has promised to keep it low and that could be good news for the overall budget.

2.    EXPENDITURE: The total plan outlay for railways in 2014-15 would be Rs.47,650 crore. The railways propose to spend Rs.1,49,000 crore on various activities including modernisation of network, new routes, upgrading of passenger services at stations and on-board in trains during 2014-15. Major expenditure for railways includes pension provision at Rs.28,850 crore. The railways spent 94 paise for every 1 rupee earned in 2013-14.

3.    FREIGHT :  The Indian Railways expect to gain receipts of Rs.1,06,000 crore from freight. The rail network carries 1 billion metric tonnes of freight. However, it accounts for 31% of the total freight in India. Businesses use road or air as an alternative. This is because the government revised freight rates to compensate for losses in passenger fares.

4.    PASSENGER TRAFFIC: Over 12,500 trains carry 2.3 crore passengers everyday. This is like moving the entire population of Australia in a day. The Indian Railways expects to make Rs.44,650 crore through passenger traffic. However, in 2013-14, it bore 23 paise per km per passenger loss. When the railway minister provided relief from fare hike to suburban passengers in Mumbai, it let go Rs.600 crore in revenue.

5.    WHAT NEXT :  The Indian Railways require Rs.1,82,000 crore to complete 359 projects of expansion and modernisation. The budgetary support of Rs.47,000 crore is not enough for the expenditure that the railways department proposes to incur over the next few years. The government is expected to encourage private sector and foreign investment in various areas. The budget also announced creating land parcels and unlocking value by creating logistical hubs around railway stations.

Source : RailNews