Suresh Prabhu presented his second Railway Budget on Thursday
Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday presented his second Railway Budget in Parliament.
Here are some of the key points:
• Three pillars of change: New source of revenues, new norms and new structures
• Operating ratio in 2016-17 92 percent (90 percent in 2015-16)
• Capital Expenditure in 2016-17 at Rs 1.21 lakh crore
• Savings through efficient operation in 2015-16 at Rs 8,720 crore
• LIC will invest Rs 1.5 lakh crore over next five years
• 2,500 km of broad guage line will be commissioned in 2016-17
• All civil engineering contracts for dedicated freight corridor will be released soon
• 2000 km of lines will be electrified in 2016-17
• Two locomotive factories to be set up at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore
• Gross budgetary support in 2016-17 at Rs 40,000 crore
• Gross freight earning in 2016-17 estimated at Rs 1.8 lakh crore
• New deluxe trains announced to ensure better cost recovery
• 400 stations will be upgraded through PPP route
• Contracts worth Rs 24,000 crore issued since November 2014 as against Rs 13,000 crore in the earlier six years
• Annualised savings in 2016-17 estimated at Rs 3000 crore
• Two elevated suburban corridors planned for Mumbai
• Plans afoot to increase share of non-tariff revenue from present 5 levels through monetizing physical and soft railway assets
• National High Speed Rail Corporation will be floated soon
• National Rail Plan will be announced to ensure synergy in seamless multimodal transport system across the country
Quick reaction:
"The budget comes out to be focused on consolidation rather than expansion. Therefore the budget has focused on key issues plaguing the railways which are customer experience, increasing efficiency, network decongestion, improving safety, improving stations, increasing revenues and increasing availability. It also gave a push to projects that will lay the foundation of next generation railways, which is primarily High Speed Railway, popularly referred to as bullet trains. Overall a mature rail budget that balances much needed investments with the revenue and funding constraints"
- By Jaijit Bhattacharya, Partner – Infrastructure and Government Services, KPMG in India