NEW DELHI : The operating ratio of the Railways has deteriorated to 92 per cent in the fiscal 2016-17 from 88.5 per cent in 2015-16, with the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations impacting negatively the national transporter’s financial health. This was stated by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today while presenting the Rail budget for 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. The railways’ operating ratio in 2015-16 was the best in last nine years.
The Railway Minister committed Rs 1.2 lakh crore as capital expenditure for 2016-17 against the envisaged plan to spend Rs 8.5 lakh crore over 2015-19 to add capacity and modernise existing infrastructure. Budgetary support from the Centre has been kept at Rs 40,000 crore, the same as in the current fiscal, while the Railways suffered loss of Rs 30,000 crore on account of subsidised passenger fares. Mr Prabhu said he will revisit all processes and rules for the transformation of the Railways.
The Railway Minister announced new 44 new projects with estimated cost of Rs 92,714 crore which will be implemented in the coming fiscal. ”Yatri ki garima, Rail ki gati, rashtra ki pragati (passengers’ dignity, speed of rail, progress of the nation) is the objective of the Rail budget,” he said. One of the main objectives of this year’s budget is to improve North East’s connectivity with the rest of India, he added. The Minister also said states will be the future stakeholders in new rail projects. Mr Prabhu announced several new measures for rail safety and facilities for passengers. He said all Railway stations will be brought under CCTV surveillance and Wi-Fi services will be provided at 100 stations in 2015-16 and at 400 stations by the end of the next fiscal.
The Railway Minister said 124 MPs have committed funds from MPLADS scheme to enhance passenger amenities. Bids will be invited for redevelopment of existing Railway stations. The Budget also proposes to establish dedicated freight corridor for North-South, East-West and East Coast. Mr Prabhu announced that a Railway university will be set up at the Indian Railway Academy at Vadodara, Gujarat. He said Life Insurance Corporation has agreed to invest Rs 1.5 lakh crore to fund Rail projects on attractive terms. The Railways will generate nine crore man-days of employment by 2017-18 and 14 crore man-days by 2018-19, Mr Prabhu said. The Railway Minister also announced return of IRCTC in the catering service which had been outsourced to private contractors. He said the IRCTC will begin managing catering services in a phased manner.
(AGENCIES)
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