Rail Budget: Railways to borrow Rs 15,000 cr in 2012-13

The Indian Railways will borrow Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) from the market through its dedicated financing arm IRFC in the 2012-13 fiscal, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said on Wednesday.

For the fiscal beginning April 1, the Indian Railways has targetted an annual plan outlay of Rs 60,100 crore (Rs 601 billion), which is the highest-ever plan investment, he said while unveiling the Rail Budget in the Parliament.

"The plan would be financed through (among other ways) extra budgetary resources of Rs 16,050 crore (Rs 160.5 billion), which includes market borrowing of Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) through Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)," Trivedi said.

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For the current fiscal, the gross budgetary support for Railway Ministry stood at Rs 24,000 crore (Rs 240 billion), Railway Safety Fund of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) and internal resources of Rs 18,050 crore (Rs 180.5 billion).

Among other things, Trivedi also announced hiking passenger fares ranging from 2 paisa per kilometre to 30 paisa per kilometre in various categories of trains despite noting that Railways was passing through a "difficult phase".