2015-16 Railway Budget Thursday Feb 26,2015

 

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, along with Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, on their way to Parliament House from Rail Bhawan to present the Railway Budget in New Delhi on Thursday Feb 25,2015

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu arrives at the Parliament to present Rail Budget @ 11.40 A.M

Article 112 of the Constitution of India stipulates that Government should lay before the Parliament an Annual Financial Statement popularly referred to as ‘Budget’. The Railway Budget presented to Parliament, besides the Railway Minister's Budget speech consists of the following documents -

1. Budget of the Railway Revenue and Expenditure

2. Demands for Grants and detailed Demands for Grants

3. Explanatory Memorandum

4. Works, Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

5. Performance and Outcome Budget.

6. Appropriation Bill

7. Memorandum explaining the increase in fare and freight rates.

Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu along with his team gives final touches to the Railway Budget 2015-16 on the eve of its presentation

For 10 years before 2012-13, there was no increase in rail fares. Then Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi had made an across-the-board hike in 2012-13 but was made to roll back the hike in second and sleeper class categories. Since then there have been hikes in passenger fares

 

Ahead of the presentation of the Railway Budget, South Central Railway officials revealed that a whopping Rs. 14,583 crore is required for 26 ongoing projects under SCR’s jurisdiction that spans Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu

At 12.10 Noon Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu started Railway Budget speech in the Parliament

 

 

 

 

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said best efforts were being made to fulfil people’s aspiration in the NDA government’s first full-fledged Rail Budget.

 

 

 

No increase in rail fare

Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance

All india 24 X 7 helpline 138 from 1/3/15 ; Toll free No.182 – for security complaints

Unreserved ticket purchase made simplier through smart phones; debit cards

Bio toilets in trains; airplane type toilets in trains

SMS alert on mobile, customer portal promoting digital India campaign

Will Increase track length by 20 % and passenger carrying capacity from 21 to 30 million

 Private agencies to be roped in for cleanliness drive

To have partnership with private sector for last mile connectivity

8.5 lakh crore rupees to be invested in the railways in the next 5 years

To expand Bharatiya Rail's capacity substantially and to modernise infrastructure. Given the importance of rail travel for the citizens, Indian Railways will increase daily passenger carrying capacity from 21million to 30 million. It will also increase track length by 20% from 1,14,000 km to 1,38,000 km, and will grow its annual freight carrying capacity from 1 billion to 1.5 billion tonnes. 

4 Goals for transformation of Indian Railways - Goal 1-Customer experience to receive a huge boost, Goal 2 - Safer Travel: Goal 3 -Modernize infrastructure; Goal 4- Indian Railways- Financially self-sustainable

The key themes of the Budget were in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives - Swachch Bharat Mission, Make in India and Digital India.

1	The most-expected part about this year's Railway Budget - there is no increase in passsenger rail fares.
2	Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be invested in Railways in next 5 years.
3	'Operation 5 mins', wherein passengers travellling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes.
4	Bio toilets and airplane-type vaccum toilets in trains.
5	Surveillance cameras in select coaches and ladies compartments for women's safety without compromising on privacy.
6	Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance.
7	Speed on nine railway corridors to go up to 200 km per hour.
8	Wi-Fi in more stations, mobile phone charging facilities in all train compartments.
9	Facility of online booking of wheelchair for senior citizens.
10	Satellite railway terminals in major cities.
11	Centrally managed Rail Display Network is expected to be introduced in over 2K stations over the next 2 years.
12	All india 24/7 helpline - 138 from March 2015 ; Toll free No.182 for security.
13	917 road under-bridges and over-bridges to be constructed to replace 3,438 railway crossings; at a cost of Rs. 6,581 crore.
14	Four Railway Research Centres to start in four universities.
15	Details about new trains and increased frequency will be announced later in this session of Parliament after review.

What is the investment plan?

The Railway Budget envisages an investment of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in next five years.

How is it going to be mobilized?

The Minister suggested that the money could be raised from multiple sources - from multilateral development banks to pension funds.

What is the action plan in the sphere fund raising?

Go in for partnership with key stakeholders - States, PSUs, partner with multilateral and bi-lateral organizations other governments to gain access to long-term financing. Also, get technology from overseas. The private sector could be roped in to improve last-mile connectivity, expand fleet of rolling stock and modernize station infrastructure.

What is the thrust?

The thrust will be on revamping management practices, systems, processes, and re-tooling of human resources.

What is the proposal on capacity augmentation?

1. De-congesting networks with basket of traffic-generating projects will be the priority

2. Priority to last-mile connectivity projects

3. Fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of double/third/fourth lines

4. Commissioning 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs. 8,686 crore, 84% higher Y-O-Y.

5. Commissioning 800 km of gauge conversion targeted in current fiscal.

6. 77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with electrification, covering almost all States, at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore, which is over 2700% higher in terms of amount sanctioned.

7. Traffic facility work is a top priority with an outlay of Rs. 2374 crore .

8. Award of 750 km of civil contracts and 1300 km of system contracts in 2015-16 on Dedicated

9. Freight Corridor (DFC); 55 km section of Eastern DFC to be completed in the current year.

10. Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in progress.

11. Acceleration of pace of Railway electrification: 6,608 route kilometers sanctioned for 2015-16, an increase of 1330% over the previous year

The benchmark Sensex on Thursday plunged by over 261 points, logging its worst fall in two weeks, to close below the key 29,000-level after the Rail budget disappointed market participants.
The 30-share BSE Sensex after a better start, rose further to touch the day’s high of 29,069.13 in early trade. However, it slipped into the red as selling pressure gathered momentum after the railway budget. It dipped below the 29,000-mark to hit a low of 28,693.82 before settling 261.34 points, or 0.90 per cent, down at 28,746.65.

PM Narendra Modi tweeted, "#RailBudget2015 is a forward looking, futuristic & passenger centric budget, combining a clear vision & a definite plan to achieve it," also expressing delight that, "for the 1st time there is a concrete vision for technology upgradation & modernisation of the Railways."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the presentation of the Rail Budget 2015 in the Lok Sabha

Passengers watch the Railway Budget in New Delhi