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Showing posts with label Indian Railway Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Railway Budget. Show all posts

Saturday, 2 February 2019

07:25

Highlights of Interim Budget 2019-20

Highlights of Interim Budget 2019-20

Ministry of Finance
Highlights Of Interim Budget 2019-20
Posted On: 01 FEB 2019 1:49PM by PIB Delhi
The key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal in Parliament today are as follows:
New Announcements
Farmers
12 crore small and marginal farmers to be provided with assured yearly income of Rs. 6000 per annum under PM-KISAN
o   Outlay of Rs. 75,000 crore for FY 2019-20 with additional Rs. 20,000 crore in RE 2018-19
·         Outlay for Rashtriya Gokul mission increased to Rs 750 crore
·         Rashtriya Kamdhenu Ayog  to be setup for sustainable genetic up-gradation of the Cow resources
·         New separate Department of Fisheries for welfare of 1.5 crore fishermen
·         2% interest subvention to Farmers for Animal husbandry and Fisheries activities; additional 3% in case of timely repayment.
·         Interest subvention of 2% during disaster will now be provided for the entire period of reschedulement of loan
Labour
·         Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan scheme to ensure fixed monthly pension to 10 crore unorganized sector workers
o   Rs 3000 per month after 60 years of age with an affordable contribution of only Rs 100/55 per month
Health·         22nd AIIMS to be setup in Haryana
MGNREGA
·         Rs. 60, 000 crore allocation for MGNREGA in BE 2019-20
Direct Tax proposals
·         Income upto Rs. 5 lakh exempted from Income Tax
·         More than Rs. 23,000 crore tax relief to 3 crore middle class taxpayers
·         Standard Deduction to be raised to Rs. 50,000 from Rs. 40,000
         TDS threshold to be raised from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 40,000 on interest earned on bank/post office deposits
·         Existing rates of income tax to continue
·         Tax exempted on notional rent on a second self-occupied house
·         Housing and real estate sector to get boost-
o   TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent to be increased from Rs. 1,80,000 to Rs. 2,40,000
o   Benefit of rollover of capital gains increased from investment in one residential house to two residential houses for capital gains up to Rs. 2 crore.
o   Tax benefits for affordable housing extended till 31st March, 2020 under Section 80-IBA of Income Tax Act
o   Tax exemption period on notional rent, on unsold inventories, extended from one year to two years
Fiscal Programme
·         Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.4% of GDP for 2019-20
·         Target of 3% of fiscal deficit to be achieved by 2020-21.
·         Fiscal deficit brought down to 3.4% in 2018-19 RE from almost 6% seven years ago
·         Total expenditure increased by over 13% to Rs.27,84,200 crore in 2019-20 BE
·         Capital Expenditure for 2019-20 BE estimated at Rs. 3,36,292 crore
·         Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) allocation increased to Rs. 3,27,679 crore in BE 2019-20
·         National Education Mission allocation increased by about 20% to Rs. 38,572 crore in BE 2019-20
·         Allocation for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) increased by over 18% to Rs. 27,584 crore in BE 2019-20
·         Substantial increase in allocation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes -
o   Allocation for SCs increased by 35.6% - from Rs. 56,619 crore in BE 2018-19 to Rs. 76,801 crore in BE for 2019-20
o   Allocation for the STs increased by 28% - from 39,135 crore in BE 2018-19 to Rs. 50,086 crore in 2019-20 BE
·         Government confident of achieving the disinvestment target of 80,000 crore
·         Focus now on debt consolidation along with fiscal deficit consolidation programme
Poor and Backward Classes
·         “First right on the resources of country is that of the poor”: FM
·         25% additional seats in educational institutions to meet the 10% reservation for the poor
·         Targeted expenditure to bridge urban-rural divide & to improve quality of life in villages
·         All willing households to be provided electricity connections by March 2019
North East
·         Allocation to be increased by 21% to Rs. 58,166 crore in 2019-20 BE over 2018-19 BE
·         Arunachal Pradesh came on the air map recently
·         Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram came on India’s rail map for the first time
·         Container cargo movement through improved navigation capacity of the Brahmaputra
Vulnerable sections
·         A new committee under NITI Ayog to identify all the remaining De-notified nomadic and semi-Nomadic tribes.
·         New Welfare development Board under Ministry of social justice and empowerment for development and welfare of De-notified nomadic and semi nomadic tribes
Defence
·         Defence budget to cross Rs 3,00,000 crore for the first time ever
Railways
·         Capital support of Rs.64,587 crore proposed in 2019-20 (BE) from the budget
·         Overall capital expenditure programme to be of Rs. 1,58,658 crore
·         Operating Ratio expected to improve from 98.4% in 2017-18
                                                                             to 96.2% in 2018-19 (RE) and
                                                                             to 95% in 2019- 20 (BE)


 Railways

o   ‘Safest year’ for railways in its history
o   All Unmanned Level Crossings on broad gauge network eliminated.
o   Semi high-speed "Vande Bharat Express" introduced - first indigenously developed and manufactured

Source:PIBNEWS

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Monday, 23 January 2017

08:21

MERGER OF UNION BUDGET AND RAILWAY BUDGET 2017 APPROVED BY PRESIDENT

MERGER OF UNION BUDGET AND RAILWAY BUDGET 2017 APPROVED BY PRESIDENT

The Cabinet had also given nod for advancement of the date of budget presentation from the last day of February. The government will present the Union budget 2017-18 on February 1.

President Pranab Mukherjee has approved changes in government rules to allow merger of rail budget with the Union Budget 2017. The Department of Economic Affairs has been entrusted with the work relating to preparation of central budget including rail budget, as per a recent order issued by Cabinet Secretariat. Earlier, the department was looking after the preparation of budget other than the railway.
The President has given nod to amend Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 in this regard and the department will now prepare both the budgets. The Union Cabinet had in September last year approved certain landmark budgetary reforms relating to the merger of railway budget with the general budget from 2017-18 onwards. The presentation of separate railway budget started in 1924, and has continued after independence as a convention rather than under Constitutional provisions.

Source:FinanceExpress 

 Also Read:PIBNEWS
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Tuesday, 17 January 2017

22:54

High-speed trains to link metros by 2019

High-speed trains to link metros by 2019

New Delhi : The Indian Railways have identified 11 corridors for running the trains at a “semi-high speed” of 160 km per hour by 2019 and sought sanction of Rs 22,000 crore from the finance ministry in the upcoming union budget. The average speed of the high profile trains like Rajdhani is at present 88 to 90 km per hour.

The project envisages improvement of the rail tracks between Mumbai and Delhi, between Mumbai and Goa, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Delhi-Kolkata, Nagpur-Hyderabad, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Chennai-Hyderabad, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur and Delhi-Agra. The Railways have already started a feasibility study to push for high speed on these routes, though not attaining the high-speed rail corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to run the train at 200 km per hour.

The Railway Ministry sources said the first two tracks to be developed for speeding up the trains’ speed are between Delhi and Mumbai and Delhi and Kolkata. It will enable completion of the journey between Delhi and Mumbai in just 11 hours straight. Presently, the Mumbai Rajdhani takes 16 hours to cover a distance of 1400 km at an average speed of 88 km per hour. At present, only the Gatiman Express moves at a speed of 160 km per hour covering the distance of 188 km between Delhi (Nizamuddin) and Agra in one hour 40 minutes.

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Monday, 2 January 2017

07:05

Caterpillar trains and pod taxis to fight congestion

Caterpillar trains and pod taxis to fight congestion

Government to develop alternate modes of public transport for tier II cities.

The Centre has formed an integrated traffic and transportation plan for tier II cities to get rid of increasing air pollution and traffic congestion. As per the plan, the government will develop alternate modes of public transport like pod taxi, caterpillar trains and other non-motorised vehicles in cities with population between 10 to 20 lakh. As per the government norms, metro rail can be developed only in cities with population over 20 lakh and hence, the government has planned alternate modes of transport. Well-placed sources said the urban development ministry has prepared the plan that will be executed in partnership with the respective state governments. A proposal has been sent to the Finance Ministry for creating special fund for the project.
The Finance Ministry is in the process of finalising the budget for the year 2017-18 and sources said a separate fund of `85,000 crore could be announced in the budget speech. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the General Budget on February 1.
The move comes in wake of rising air pollution and traffic mess on roads for which the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal have pulled up the government on several occasions. Recently, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to come up with an action plan on checking air pollution. The court also asked the Center to introduce pollution coding mechanism in Delhi. However, in tier-II cities, the government wants to promote the use of public transport and electronic vehicles, so as to check the menace.

Officials said the Urban Development ministry wants pod taxis in tier-II cities, most of which have been included in the list of smart cities. Apart from this, use of battery-operated vehicles, electric cars and small buses would also be encouraged so that the situation can be eased out in crowded areas. As buses cannot operate in congested markets, battery-operated vehicles would not only cater to the transportation needs but also reduce air pollution. Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari has already announced India's first pod taxi in Gurugram while the Haryana government is also exploring the feasibility of caterpillar train in the city.

Experts said these modes of transport are cheaper than construction of metro rail network. While metro construction involves a cost of `100-150 crore per km, pod taxi and caterpillar trains can be constructed at 1/10th the cost of metro.
A senior official said the project will be implemented in partnership with the state government. The project cost will also have to be shared by the two governments. For this purpose, the states will have to give a presentation on ways to control traffic congestion and pollution in the cities. The government is also eyeing grants from the World Bank to execute the project.
Ensuring pedestrian safety and construction of cycle tracks will be another focus of the project. Nonmotorised vehicle zones will be demarcated in these cities and an effective traffic regulation plan will be put in place.
Strengthening of footpath and constructing cycle tracks will be ensured, keeping in view their safety as the two categories are the most vulnerable to road accidents. Intelligent traffic system will be introduced surrounding major markets and congested areas in order to get rid of vehicular pile-up on intersections.

Source:India Today

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/caterpillar-trains-pod-taxis-congestion-pollution-tier-ii-cities/1/847440.html
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Sunday, 7 August 2016

22:33

Merging Rail Budget with General Budget will reduce Railways to just another Govt Dept

Merging Rail Budget with General Budget will reduce Railways to just another Govt Dept
The merger of the Railway Budget with the General Budget is once again making a buzz. It is learnt that the Railways Minister has accepted the recommendations of the Bibek Debroy committee.
Agreed, a practice started 90 years ago should be reviewed. It may be relevant to recall the factors that led to the separation in 1925.
The Railways were in bad shape at the turn of the last century. The 36,735-mile route was pulling in different directions. There were state lines worked by the state, state lines worked by guaranteed or independent companies, company lines worked by companies, and lines belonging to the princely states.
The Railways failed to meet the demand from passengers as well as trade. The facilities were utterly inadequate. Goods rotted on the platforms as there were no wagons or locomotives to move them. Overcrowding and waiting for days at stations was quite common. The main reason for such a state of affairs was the non-availability of funds for expansion, development, and repairs and maintenance.
A question of funds
Even though the railway revenue formed a major portion of the government revenue, the Railways were starved of adequate funds. In times of bad harvest and trade, when the revenue fell, the budget allotment to the Railways was the first casualty.
The cut in expenditure was exercised even during the currency of the year resulting in suspension of works in progress and disbanding of staff. Late in the year if the financial situation improved, the finance member with equal suddenness encouraged the Railways to spend more, leaving them little time in which to do so. The system was further battered by World War 1, leading to a clamour from the public — as represented in the Imperial Legislative Council urged through repeated resolutions moved in 1914, 1915, 1917, and 1918 — for the appointment of a committee to enquire into the desirability of adopting direct state management of the Railways and emancipating the utility from the finance department of the government.
In November 1920, a ten-member (three Indians) committee was appointed with Sir William Acworth as chairman to “go into the whole question of railway policy, financial and administration”. The committee collected evidence and came to the conclusion that Indian Railways “cannot be modernised, improved and enlarged so as to give to India the service of which it is in crying need at the moment until the financial methods are radically reformed” and the essence of that reform according to the committee was complete separation of the Railway Budget from the General Budget and its reconstruction in a form “which frees a great commercial business from the trammels of a system which assumes that the concern goes out of business on each 31st of March and starts de novo on 1st of April”.
This, then, was the beginning of the separation. Speaking in the Assembly while presenting the Budget for 1924-25, the finance member of the council reminded members that “I know of no reform which offers greater benefits to our finances and Railways alike than a definite separation”. This would enable the Railways to spend money according to the real needs of the system unimpeded by the vagaries of the Budget figures and the requirements of the Budget accounting. The separation started with the Budget of 1925-26.
Populist exercise
The practice of paying dividend to the general revenues on the capital invested from there continues but the Railways since then have been responsible for earning and spending their own money. Of course they do have to look for budgetary support from the general exchequer as the money earned has never been enough to meet their needs. One reason for this has been their inability to raise fares and freight commensurate with the rising cost of transport.

This politicisation of the Railways came along with Independence and India embracing parliamentary democracy. As a result, the Railway Budget over the years has become more a populist than a commercial exercise. The autonomy envisaged was fettered by not raising passenger fares in line with rising costs. Indeed, passengers are being subsidised by goods traffic.
The Budget has also become an instrument in the hands of several railway ministers to build their vote-bank. All this affected the finances so that today, the Railways do not have adequate funds for expansion, development or replacement of worn-out tracks or rolling stock. Besides, there was the impact of Partition and World War 2.
During all these years of independence, though major landmarks were achieved, Indian Railways still lagged behind in expanding and modernising its network for want of adequate funds. In 1950, we had 54,600 km of track. To this we could add hardly 11,000 km in all these years. China had just 22,161 km in 1950. Today it has over 1 lakh km. Our Shatabadis and Rajdhanis and even the latest Gatiman Express run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph. China has already achieved a speed of 300 kmph with the Beijing-Guangzhou bullet train service.
It is not that our engineers are not capable of reaching those targets. It has always been the constraint of funds. Internal resources were never enough. The budgetary support from the general revenues was always limited. External borrowings through the Indian Railway Finance Corporation could is also restricted. So the emancipation envisaged in the separation of railway finances from general finances was, to a great extent, diluted by inherent flaws in our political system.
Parallel problems
While merging the budgets will remove this snag, it will also create parallel problems. The railway revenue will become part of the general revenue but so will the expenditure. In the event of shortfall in revenue or gross receipts in the general budget, will the finance ministry carry out the cuts in Railway expenditure? Certainly not.
There are some regular costs such as staff salaries, fuel, stores and equipment that cannot be guillotined. The sacrificial lamb could again be the modernisation and expansion. The constraint in raising passenger fares would be the same with the finance minister presenting the General Budget as with the railway minister presenting the Railway Budget.
The merger will only make the Railways become one more government department; it will lose its commercial character. There is also a contradiction in the approach of intellectuals who were engaged in studying the organisation. On the one hand, they talk of privatisation of the Railways and on the other, they suggest merging the entity fully into the system, subverting its commercial nature which requires separate treatment of its finances.
It would be better to leave the current nature and character alone and concentrate on strengthening, modernising and expanding the Railways so that it can meet the demands and challenges of transporting mind-boggling numbers of people and goods across the length and breadth of this country.
Source:RailNews
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Wednesday, 29 June 2016

08:13

Railway Budget unlikely to be scrapped soon: Railway Board

Railway Budget unlikely to be scrapped soon: Railway Board

New Delhi: The plan to scrap India’s annual railway budget and merge it with the Union budget, as recommended by the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog, or NITI Aayog, may find opposition from the finance ministry.

The change in the almost century-old tradition is unlikely to happen immediately, according to two senior railway ministry officials. They added that the resistance may come from the finance ministry due to the need for provisioning for pensioner expenses.

The Indian Railways is facing a financial crunch and is looking for external financing options to fund projects. At present, there are close to 1.4 million pensioners under the railways who draw Rs.8,000 crore per year. The railways is also staring at an increased financial burden of Rs.40,000 crore, given the 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

“The finance ministry will not agree since it will have to provide for expenses such as pension liability and I am not sure it will want to take on that responsibility,” said a railway ministry official quoted above.

The finance ministry is still to approve a Rs.1.19 trillion railway safety fund owing to financial crunch. The government has sought the railway ministry’s comments on the 20-page note titled ‘Dispensing with the Rail Budget’, jointly authored by NITI Aayog members Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai, submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It has been endorsed by railway minister Suresh Prabhu.

A separate railway budget neither addressed the railways’ funding requirements, nor made it accountable for delivery. It also says a separate budget has led to politicisation of railway affairs and has failed to ensure time-bound implementation of railway projects.

The first official quoted above added NITI Aayog has asked for comments from the ministry of railways but no decision has been taken till now.

“The ministry of railways has on several occasions said a separate railway budget is not required. The possibility of it being scraped is a call that the PMO or the finance ministry has to take,” said the official.

The development comes at a time when the national transporter is losing traffic, and freight and passenger revenue to roads and air routes.

Queries emailed to the spokespersons of the finance ministry, the railway ministry, the PMO and NITI Aayog on 24 June remained unanswered.

Experts though believe that consolidation will be a positive step for the railway ministry but the merger will depend on how technicalities are dealt with.

“The railways, unlike other ministries, ends up earning as much as it spends. It functions differently from other ministries and as a result, all expenditure will have to be dealt by the finance ministry. The amalgamation of the budget will have to be done very carefully. There are a lot of overseas investments and loans that the railways has to take care of. It will have to be looked into as to who will be responsible for the payment of loans,” said former Railway Board chairman Vivek Sahai.

The railways capital outlay for the financial year 2016-17 is Rs1.21 trillion compared with around Rs1 trillion in the last budget.

The second railway official said that unlike other ministries the railways generates its own earnings and caters to expenditure, the onus of which will fall on the finance ministry if the railway budget is consolidated with the Union budget.

“Railways is a very peculiar kind of ministry. We earn and we spend. The only burden on the finance ministry is the budgetary support. Once the finance ministry takes over the budget, they will have to do the accounting and they will have to take all our books into their account,” added the official.

Source:RailNews
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Friday, 7 August 2015

15:45

Over 300 Accidents in 4 Years: Railway Staff were to blame in 7 cases out of 10 cases

Over 300 Accidents in 4 Years: Railway Staff were to blame in 7 cases out of 10 cases

The government defines “consequential accidents” as those with “serious repercussions in terms of loss of human life, human injury, loss to railway property or interruption to rail traffic” (Source: Parliament statement, March 16, 2015)

New Delhi: All figures except those for ‘Cost of damage’ and ‘Compensation paid’ are for “consequential train accidents (excluding incidents at unmanned level crossings caused due to negligence of road vehicle users)”.

The government defines “consequential accidents” as those with “serious repercussions in terms of loss of human life, human injury, loss to railway property or interruption to rail traffic”. Figures for 2014-15 are up to February 2015. Figures for ‘Cost of damage’ are for “consequential train accidents”. Figures for ‘Compensation paid’ are for “train accidents, untoward incidents, accidents at manned level and unmanned level crossings”. Figures for 2014-15 are provisional.

Accidents Chart

What solutions are available for disaster management?

Tackling Derailments: Prabhu’s speech for the Rail Budget 2015-2016 primarily concentrated on three key safety issues. Curbing derailments was one of them. The minister had promised primary track renewals with “modern track structure consisting of sleepers and heavier rails”, as well as better welding techniques. He had also proposed replacing analog machines with digital ones for testing of tracks.

This was similar to what Bansal had proposed: upgradation of track structure using 60 kg rails, 260 meter long welded rail-panels and improved flash butt welding technology. He had also claimed that 17 bridges identified as distressed had already been sanctioned for rehabilitation within the next one year. It is not known whether the Machak river bridge was on that list.

Accidents at level crossings: The major aspect of railway safety which both Bansal and Prabhu stressed in their respective speeches was the high number of accidents at level crossings.  Describing it as a ‘disquieting issue’ Bansal had asked for an increase in the Railways share in the Central Road Fund from the then allocation of Rs 1,100 crore to a required amount of ‘almost Rs 5,000 crore’. He had also requested increased allocation to the Railway Safety Fund. He had cited a cost of Rs 37,000 crores for eliminating 31,846 LCs, out of which 13,530 are unmanned.

Prabhu suggested more high-tech reforms, saying that the elimination of LCs and ‘the construction of Road over Bridges (ROBs) and Road under Bridges (RUBs) was the Railways’ highest priority. He also said that as a short term precaution, the RDSO has been asked to develop a suitable device in consultation with Indian Space Research Organization. This device would use geo-spatial technology for providing audio-visual warning to road users at unmanned level crossings.

Collisions: Prabhu promised to “install Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System on select routes at the earliest”. Bansal, too, had promised the same.

The major step taken by the UPA government was to set up a Railway safety committee under Anil Kakodkar in 2012-13. Bansal in his speech had said that the ministry had sanctioned some of the committee’s recommendations for implementation, while rest were under consideration. Prabhu promised to review all pending recommendations by the Kakodkar Committee over the next five years.

Outlook: In the past three Railway Budgets (2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16), Bansal’s tenure saw 2,885 track renewals while Prabhu has set a target of 2,500 renewals. The NDA’s first major rail budget has also concentrated more on the upkeep and beautification of railway stations and coaches, with a greater stress on passenger amenities and digitisation of railway resources and services.
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Sunday, 24 May 2015

11:40

Rail Politics: Opposition create ruckus over Rail Budget 2014-15, claims that it was privatization friendly

Rail Politics: Opposition create ruckus over Rail Budget 2014-15, claims that it was privatization friendly

New Delhi: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates Railway Minister for presenting a growth oriented railway budget for the common people. While the opposition creating ruckus over the Rail Budget 2014-15, claims that it was privatization friendly and will bring tears to common man`s eyes.

The Delhi Congress workers protest outside Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda`s residence. Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi slams the rail budget 2014-15 said that the budget lacks vision and also ignores many states. The Congress also claims that the budget smells government and private nexus.

Manish Tiwari, the Congress party leader said that this budget would bring tears to common man`s eyes. He also added that the rail budget was more as privatization of railways. Another Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that this is a budget of PPP, FDI and privatization. While Pawan Kumar Bansal said that the Rail Budget is more focused on small issues rather than major issues. He also slams the introduction of bullet train saying that the UPA had already discussed it with foreign companies then. He emphasised the focus on semi-high speed trains.

West Bengal Chief Minister and former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the centre for depriving the people of Bengal in the Railway Budget. TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee said that Gowda`s presentation lacked new idea and was inspired by the rail budget presented by Mamta Banerjee.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav calls the Rail Budget as uninspiring and ignorance to Bihar projects.

Aam Admi Party calls Rail Budget as a derailed budget suffering from regional imbalance.



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Sunday, 1 March 2015

10:56

Railway Budget 2015 - Hand Held Terminals to TTE's

Hand-held terminals to Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) for verification of passengers will now be provided for verification of passengers, possibility of extending facility of SMS on mobiles as a valid proof of travel for PRS tickets will be explored. A centrally managed Railway Display Network in over 2000 stations in next two years will be included besides  “SMS Alert” service to inform passengers in advance of the updated arrival/departure time of trains at starting or destination stations.
No hike in Railway Passenger Fares 

Plan Outlay proposed Rs. 1,00,011 crore, increased by 52% 

Allocation for passenger amenities up by 67% 

Railways to become prime mover of Indian Economy, Five years action plan proposed

Rail Budget seeks resource mobilization for higher investment

Thrust on measurable and sustainable improvement in passenger experience and to make Rail a safer means of travel

Hot buttons, coin vending machines for railway tickets within 5 minutes, e-catering to select meals from an array of choices

200 more stations to come under Adarsh Station scheme; Wi - Fi to be provided at B category stations

24X7 helplines for attending passenger problems and security related complaints

For the safety of women passengers surveillance cameras in suburban coaches

More General class coaches will be added in identified trains.

 
The speed of nine railway corridors will be increased to 160 and 200 kmph

Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System to be installed on select routes

77 new projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works proposed

A new department for keeping stations and trains clean under Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Abhiyan


Rail Budget has also proposed Coastal Connectivity Program in partnership with ports for Nargol, Chharra, Dighi, Rewas and Tuna. Besides this, projects worth Rs 2500 crore will be taken up through BOT/ Annuity route. These include Wardha- Nagpur 3rd line, Kazipet-Vijaywada 3rd line, Bhadrak –Nargundi 3rd line and Bhuj- Nalia Gauge Conversion.

As a part of its social initiatives, now Rail stations and training centers will be made available for skill development. Incredible Rail for Incredible India will be launched and training of auto-rickshaw and taxi-operators as tourist-guides on the model of Konkan Railway will be taken up for tourism promotion. IRCTC will work on promoting the Gandhi circuit to attract tourists to mark the occasion of 100 years of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa. Kisan Yatra, a special travel scheme for farmers for farming & marketing technique centres has also been proposed.




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Thursday, 26 February 2015

15:29

RAILWAY BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS: Year 2015

The Railway Budget 2015-16, that left passenger and freight fares untouched, envisages an investment of Rs.850,000 crore over the next five years -- mostly directed towards modernizing existing tracks and introducing faster trains.

2.30 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday described the 2015 rail budget as a "watershed" moment for Indian Railways and called it "forward looking, futuristic and passenger-centric budget".

"Rail budget 2015 is a forward looking, futuristic and passenger centric budget, combining a clear vision and a definite plan to achieve it," Modi said in a tweet after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden budget here.

1.36 pm: I don't really see anything new, just continuation of previous projects: Pawan Bansal, former Railway Minister.

RAILWAY BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS: 

- Delhi-Mumbai to become overnight travel.
-10 satellite stations this year. Mumbai-Ahmedabah high speed trains.
-Will set up 'Kayakalp' to help in Technology Upgradation.
-We intend to introduce technology portal to invite innovative technological solutions.
-To prevent fire in coaches, we'll install train protection warning system and train collision avoiding system.
- We are launching a coastal connectivity programme this year.
- Rs.2000 cr for Coastal Connectivity Programme; Rs.2500 cr through BOT/Annuity route. 1000 MWSolar plant; 100DEMUs to dual fuel.
- I offer my deepest condolences to families of all accident victims and railway personnel who lost their lives.
- For high-speed trains on other routes on the diamond quadrilateral studies being commisioned, are working on it.
-  67% more funds allotted for passenger amenities.
- In 400 stations wi-fi facility will be provided.
-  Request MPs to use part of their MP lad to improve facilities.
- We will introduce Train sets saving 20% journey time, similar to bullet trains in design, can run on existing tracks.
- We will be initiating an SMS alert service to inform passengers about arrival & departure of the trains.
- We will also be providing facility of online booking of wheelchair for senior citizens.
- Introducing Operation 5 mins, wherein passengers travellling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes.
- A Mobile application to address complaints of people is also being developed.
- Food can be ordered from IRCTC website.
- Clean drinking water at low cost at railway stations.
- Cleanliness in Railways highest priority for us, we now work on Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat.
-  We will increase number of mechanised laundry, an All India 24-7 helpline number will become operational.
- Airplane like vaccum toilets in trains.
- More bed rolls will be available at stations.
- To build toilets in 600 stations.
- GM to get more tendering powers.
- We'll be revamping management practices, processes and procedures.
- Indian Railways will continue to serve common man, people of India will own Railways always.
- Goal one - to ensure good customer experience to receive a huge boost.
- These objectives will ensure Railway is an integral part of flagship programs launched by PM.
- We have fixed goals for ourselves, make Rail a safer means of travel.
- Suresh Prabhu,Railway Min #RailBudget2015 : Railway continue to be our precious national asset.
- Suresh Prabhu,Railway Min #RailBudget2015 : Modernise infrastructure, make Indian Railways financially self-sustainable.
- Objective is to make Bhartiya Rail financially sustainable.
- 492 section of Railways are running at a capacity of more than 100%; 228 running between 80-100%.
- We must restore the strength of Bharatiya Railway as the backbone of India.
- Investment in Indian Railways is necessary for environment sustainability and well being of future generations.
- Is it surprising that the Rajdhani and Shatabdi can run at 130Km/Hr but actually run at 70Km/Hr.
- Kuch naya jodna hoga, kuch purana todna hoga, kuch engine badalne honge, kuch repair karne honge. Kuch raste badalne honge, kuch naye raste khojne honge, I'm convinced we can deliver but we can't deliver overnight.
- Over the next 5yrs railways has to go through a transformation.
- Our priority will be to significantly improve high density networks of Indian Railways.
- Express gratitude to PM Narendra Modi to serve the people of India through the Ministry of Railways.
- I thank PM Modi for infusing all Indians with a sense of pride and dream of prosperous nation.

Source:Indiatoday


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Sunday, 22 February 2015

18:18

History of Indian Railway Budget

History of Indian Railway Budget

In 1921, British railway economist, William Mitchell Acworth was appointed chairman of the Committee on Indian Railways. The report of the committee, known as the “Acworth Report”, led to reorganization of Indian Railways; thus separating the railway finances of India from the general government finances. In short, this led to creation of a separate Railway Budget, an arrangement which continues in independent India today.

India’s first Finance Minister, Sir R.K. Shanmugham Chetty, presented the first Finance Budget of independent India on November 26, 1947. It was a review of the economy and no new taxes were proposed as the budget day for 1948-49 was just 95 days away.

K.C. Neogy then took charge of the Finance portfolio and held that office for just 35 days.

John Mathai became the third Finance Minister of India presenting the budget for 1950-51, the first budget for the Republic of India.

The next Finance Minister, C.D. Deshmukh presented the first budget in the first elected Parliament on the basis of adult franchise.

Budget papers began to be prepared in Hindi from 1955-56. Initially, major attention was paid towards the agriculture sector but as the economy evolved, the focus shifted from agriculture to other sectors like industry and finance.

In 1959, Morarji Desai became the Finance Minister. After the fourth General Elections in 1967, Morarji Desai once again became the Finance Minister. This was his second time. He has presented ten budgets till date. They included five annual and one interim budget during his first stint and three final and one interim in the second tenure when he was both Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

After Desai resigned, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, took over the Finance portfolio.

The shortest ever interim budget speech was just 800 words and delivered by H. M. Patel in 1977.

Rajiv Gandhi presented the budget for 1987-88 after V P Singh quit his government, and in the process became only the third Prime Minister to present a budget after his mother and grandfather.

Yashwant Sinha became the Finance Minister and presented the interim budget for 1991-92.

In the election held in May 1991, the Congress returned to power and Shri Manmohan Singh became the Finance Minister. This was the first occasion when the interim and final budgets were presented by two ministers of two different political parties.

After the elections another non-Congress ministry assumed office.

So, a final budget for 1996-97 was presented by Shri P. Chidambaram of the then Tamil Maanila Congress. It was the second time that an interim and final budget was presented by two ministers of different political parties.

Following a constitutional crisis, the I.K. Gujral Ministry was on its way out, and a special session of Parliament was convened only to pass Shri Chidambaram’s 1997-98 budget.

In 2000, Mamata Banerjee became the first women Railway Minister of India. In the year 2002, she also became the first female Minister of Railways to present the Railway budget. She holds the record of being the only women who presented the railway budget for two different governments in the centre (NDA and UPA).

First live telecast of railway budget took place on 24 March 1994. Lalu Prasad Yadav, who remained Railways Minister from 2004 to May 2009, presented the railway budget six times in a row.

Mood piece:

Some finer points of Railway Budget 2014:–
  • In 2014 railway budget, Railway Minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda announced the first railway budget, under the Modi regime.
  • Making some startling revelations on how the Indian railways was run over the past ten years, Gowda said, “”Madam Speaker, I am sure, my esteemed predecessors were aware of this precarious situation, but they, however, fell prey to the ‘nasha’ of claps in the House when they announced these projects.”
  • There was ruckus in parliament over non-allocation of more new trains.
  • Opposition roared when the Minister announced the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.
  • The minister used the word “safety” was used a dozen of times.
  • Gowda also mentioned Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda in his speech once each.
  • Gowda mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name four times, and former prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee was mentioned once.
  • Opposition interrupted the minister a dozen of times during the budget speech.
  • Sensex hit new highs of 26,190.44 ahead of Railway Budget but crashed by over 550 points post the presentation.
  • Gowda read quotes four times during his speech, twice in Sanskrit, once in English and once in Kannada. He ended the Railway Budget with quote in Kannada.
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