Railway Budget to Capture Increased Revenues and Ensure Appropriate Investments to De-Congest the System and Enhance Line Capacity

Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has said that the intention of Railway Budget 2015-16 is to capture increased revenues and ensure appropriate investments which can de-congest the system and enhance line capacity. Presenting the Budget in Parliament today he said that the passenger earnings growth has been pegged at 16.7% and earnings target has accordingly been budgeted at ₹ 50,175 crore. The freight traffic is pegged at an all time high incremental traffic of 85 million tonnes, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of economy, specially where rail co-efficient is high and by tapping full railway potential to cater maximum to demand-side. Goods earnings is accordingly proposed at ₹ 1,21,423 crore which includes rationalisation of rates, commodity classification and distance slabs. Other coaching and sundries are projected at ₹ 4,612 crore and ₹ 7,318 crore.

 The Minister said Gross Traffic Receipts are estimated at ₹ 1,83,578 crore which is a growth of 15.3%Ordinary Working Expenses (OWE) have been proposed to grow at a modest 9.6% over RE 2014-15. Traction fuel bill constituting 30% of ordinary working expenses in 2013-14, decreased to 27.4% in RE 2014-15 and is anticipated to shrink further to 25% of OWE in BE 2015-16. It is intended to improve on fuel efficiency parameters. Higher provisions have been made for safety maintenance and cleanliness. Lease charges, interest component of the current and previous market borrowings, have had to be provided with a growth of 21%. With the above estimates, the targeted Operating Ratio is 88.5% .

 Shri Prabhu said Appropriation to Pension Fund is proposed at ₹ 35,260 crore and appropriation to DRF at ₹ 8,100 crore to cater to the plan investment requirement of ₹ 7,500 crore from this source. An appropriation of ₹ 7,616 crore is proposed to be made to Capital Fund to meet Plan requirement of ₹ 6,293 crore from this Fund for payment of principal component of lease charges to IRFC and also to build up the reserves in the Fund for debt obligation to be discharged in subsequent years.