* Budget futuristic, growth oriented: Modi
NEW DELHI, July 8:
Having already effected a steep hike, the railway budget for 2014-15 spared passengers of any fresh revision in fares and freight rates but pitched for reforms by proposing private and Foreign Direct Investment and Public Private Partnership (PPP) to meet the resource crunch.
Presenting his maiden budget for 2014-15 in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda said he plans to leverage railway PSU resources by bringing in their investible funds in infrastructure projects.
The pre-budget hike of 14.2 per cent on fares and 6.5 per cent on freight rates announced on June 19 will fetch Rs.8,000 crore, he said. The roll back of proposals on monthly season tickets would involve a sacrifice of Rs. 610 crore.
Gifting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State Gujarat, he announced plans for introduction of a bullet train in Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector which will cost Rs.60,000 crore.
Gowda said the budget seeks course correction in the light of mismanagement, apathy, populism in starting projects and severe fund crunch that have inflicted the railways over the years.
In his post-budget briefing, Gowda said the railways would continue with the Fuel Adjustment Costs (FAC) formula under which there will be periodic hike in fares and freight rates once in six months.
He said faced with resource crunch the Government proposed to attract private and foreign investment to tide over the situation.
“We need huge investment for running bullet train. There was a ban on FDI in railways. Now we would request Commerce Ministry to delete that clause so that there can be FDI in infrastructure development,” the Minister said adding the Cabinet has to take a call.
Asked at his briefing as to what is the cap the railways would like on FDI, Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said “we would like it to be 100 per cent.”
For this, structural reforms will be introduced and resources will be mobilised through PSU surplus, FDI and PPP, he said amidst shouts from the Opposition that “this is a budget of Ambanis and Adanis”.
“How long can I depend only on hiking fare and freight rates and burden the public to realise these funds?,” he told the house adding, “this is unrealistic. Thus, I need to explore the alternate means of resource mobilisation.”
Apart from leveraging railway PSUs to bring in investible surplus funds in infrastructure projects, Gowda his ministry is seeking Cabinet approval to allow FDI in rail sector except in operations.
Adopting the PPP route for raising resources, he said “it is our target that bulk of our future projects will be financed through PPP mode, including the high-speed rail which requires huge investments.”
Increased passenger amenities, more safety measures, timely completion of projects and increased financial discipline are among the highlights budget.
The budget proposes multi-pronged approach to make Railway journey safe and secure and comfortable for passengers.
More thrust has been placed on passenger amenities, cleanliness and efficient station management. Now all major stations will have foot-over bridges, escalator and lifts.
On safety and security, the budget has proposed introduction of advance technology for rail-flaw detection to check causes of accidents, a significant amount of Rs. 1,785 crore has been earmarked for building road-over and road-under bridges.
The budget proposes that a pilot project will be launched on automatic door closing in mainline and sub-urban coaches. In order to make women safer while travelling, the Railway will recruit 4000 women constables. Coaches for ladies will be escorted.
IT initiatives get a big boost in the budget. Revamping Railway Reservation System into Next Generation e-Ticketing will be taken up with provision of platform tickets and unreserved tickets also over internet.
The Railway has proposed real-time tracking of trains and rolling stocks, mobile based Wakeup Call System for passengers, mobile based destination arrival alert and Wi-fi Services in A-1 and A category stations and in select trains. Indian Railways has also planned paperless offices in 5 years
In order to make Railway management more efficient, Budget has proposed setting up of Railway University for training in both technical and non-technical subjects besides establishing Innovations and Incubation Centre to harness the ideas generated from staff.
In a bid to modernise Indian Railway network, Bullet train has been proposed on Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector besides increasing speed of trains to 160-200 kmph in select 9 sectors.
The Railway has also planned setting up of Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centres of the country.
Identified stations will be developed to international standards with modern facilities on lines of newly developed airports through PPP mode. Railway has also proposed harnessing solar energy by utilising roof top spaces of stations, railway buildings and land.
Setting up of a Diamond Quadrilateral network of high speed rail connecting major metros and growth centres was another highlight of the budget.
More than Rs 9 lakh crore was needed completing the Golden Quadrilateral Network. A sum of Rs 100 crore has been provided for initiating the project.
Increasing the speed of trains to 160 to 200 kms per hour on 9 select sectors has been proposed. It proposes to allow all experimental stoppages to lapse after September this year.
The budget disclosed that traffic growth declined and expenditures went up in 2013-14 as compared to the revised estimates of previous financial year.
Gross traffic receipts stood at Rs 1,39,558 crore, short of revised estimates by Rs 942 crore over the previous year. The ordinary working expenses and pension outgo were also higher.
The budget estimates for 2014-15 assumes a freight loading 1101 metric tonnes, 51 metric tonnes more than the previous year, growth in passenger traffic at 2 per cent and freight earnings at Rs 1,05,770 crore.
Passenger earnings will be Rs 44,645 crore after a revenue sacrifice of Rs 610 crore on account of monthly season ticket fares.
Total receipts for the current year have been pegged at Rs 1,64,374 crore and expenditure at Rs 1,49,176 crore and Rs 60,000 crore for introducing one bullet train alone.
The annual plan for 2014-15 has been fixed at the highest ever outlay of Rs 65,445 crore with gross budgetary support at Rs 30,100 crore, Railway Safety Fund Rs 2,200 crore, internal resources Rs 15,350 crore, external market borrowing Rs 11,790 crore and EBR-PPP Rs 6,005 crore.
The budget provides higher funds for ongoing projects in North East, including 11 national projects. Rs 5,116 crore earmarked for projects in North East, which is 54 per cent higher than the previous year.
18 new line surveys have been announced, which include rail connectivity to ‘char dham’ — Kedarnath, Badrinath, etc, and Shimoga-Sringeri-Mangalore.
Five Jansadharan trains are being introduced along with five premium trains, 6 AC express trains and 27 express trains and eight passenger trains.
The premium trains are between Mumbai Central and New Delhi, Shalimar-Chennai, Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin, Jaipur-Madurai and Kamakhya-Bangalore.
Meanwhile, hailing the railway budget as “futuristic and growth-oriented”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said it is for the common people as it aspires for better service, speed and safety with focus on development of the country.
He said the rail budget presented in Parliament by Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda shows where his Government wants to take India through the railways as it focusses on strengthening institutional mechanism, transparency and integrity.
“Congratulations to the Railway Minister for presenting a futuristic & growth oriented budget. It is a budget for the common people,” Modi tweeted.
He said the rail budget “aspires for better service, speed and safety. It is an effort to create a modern Railways contributing towards a developed India.”
In a series of tweets, Modi said, “rail budget shows the important role of Railways in India’s development journey.”
He said the budget keeps in mind the development of India.
“This budget shows where we want to take the railways and at the same time where we want to take India through the railways,” Modi said, adding, “We can see the great use of technology also.”
Hailing the railway budget, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said it is “realistic and comprehensive” as honest analysis had been made about the state of affairs and health of Indian railways.
“The way forward has been clearly outlined in the Budget. Safety, security and service…All these three aspects have been taken care of and the Railway Minister has also made a realistic assessment about the need to complete the ongoing projects,” Naidu told reporters outside Parliament House.
He said hundreds of projects were announced in the previous budgets but the works have not been completed.
“So this Government has taken up that responsibility of completing all ongoing projects on priority,” the Minister said.
“Instead of going populist and becoming unrealistic and creating hardship to the people in the long run, the Railway Minister has made efforts to see that the safety, security and service aspect is given high priority and also completion of ongoing projects have taken on a priority,” Naidu said.
The high speed trains, bullet trains they all are “indication of the thinking of the government”, he said.
“The entire India is connected and I am more happy about the emphasis given on the projects in the northeastern region of the country. No region has been discriminated, every state has been given its due attention,” Naidu said.
The Minister also alleged that the opposition was trying to “politicise and trivialise” the budget.
“People of the country are watching….It is expected of the members of Parliament to hear the budget with attention and subsequently utilise the opportunity to comment on the budget when the occasion come for the discussion of the budget proposals in details,” Naidu said.
“If some people have chosen not to hear the proposal, that means they are doing injustice to the people who have elected them to this House,” he said.
“Some people seems to be not able to digest the fact that the new Government has come, a new approach has been taken and a true national budget has been presented,” Naidu added.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the rail budget aims to improve the financial condition of the railways, secure rail tracks, ensure more amenities for passengers and strengthen the overall infrastructure.
“It’s the budget for the revival of railways. It is a budget for future vision and for restoring the health of the railways,” Prasad told reporters. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel