Railway surplus is meagre, continuously on decline, says Rail Minister Sadananda Gowda
Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, presenting the Narendra Modi government's first Rail Budget today, promised to seek increased foreign and domestic private investment to fund modernization of the country's huge but badly stretched network. (
Watch Railway Minister's Full Speech) | (
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The Railways need an "immediate course correction" after years of mismanagement, Mr Gowda told Parliament as he outlined ambitious plans for the network that carries 23 million people daily. He did not raise passenger fares again, but defended a recent and unpopular fare hike of 14.2 per cent recently, saying, "The medicine appears bitter in the beginning, but is like nectar in the end." That revision, he said, would bring in additional revenue of about Rs 8000 crore.
In a post-budget briefing, he also said that the Railways would continue with a Fuel Adjustment Cost formula under which there would be periodic hikes in fares and freight rates once in six months.
He announced a slew of passenger-focused measures - including proposing India's first bullet train to run on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector and 50 other new trains, several of them high speed. He promised cleaner, safer trains and stations and better food. (
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He also promised Wi-Fi on trains and easier ticket booking - 7200 e-bookings per minute. (
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Mr Gowda's budget "shows it's planned for the railways as a whole, not piecemeal planning as was done till now. It is not an ad hoc budget. It shows where we want the Railways to head and also where we want the country to head through the Railways."
Mr Gowda's main emphasis today was on making the Railways profitable. "I can also get many claps from this house, by announcing many new projects but that would be rendering injustice to the struggling organization," Mr Gowda said, adding that of every rupee earned, the Railways spends 94 paise, leaving only six paise. "This surplus, apart from being meager, is continuously on decline due to non-revision of fare." (
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Only government funding, the minister said, was insufficient and so, he was seeking the union cabinet's approval for allowing foreign direct investment or FDI in the industry.
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He also sought greater private participation and exhorted corporates to adopt stations. The bulk of future projects would be public-private partnership or PPP funded, he said, emphasizing on the need to prioritise and complete projects, adopt safety standards of international level and encourage development.
He said he aimed to make the Railways the biggest freight carrier in the world, but said at present its share of total freight in the country had declined to only 31 per cent.
Mr Gowda, famous for his smiling countenance, did not smile much today as he accused previous governments of running the Railways for political benefit; more than half the projects worth lakhs of crores announced in the last 30 years had not been completed, he said, as new announcements were made every year.