In fact, with the increasing penetration and use of the internet, IRCTC's ticketing revenue has seen an increase of 462 per cent over the past three years. From Rs 704.9 crore (Rs 7.04 billion) in 2006-07 and Rs 1,744.7 crore (Rs 17.44 billion) in 2007-08, the corporation got Rs 3,966.98 crore (Rs 39.66 billion) from sale of online tickets last year.
In the first four months of this financial year, Indian Railways' (IR) earnings from commercial publicity have declined by 14 per cent over the corresponding period last year.
The ambitious Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion), 3,289 km Dedicated Freight Corridors are a case in point. Although the project started under former railway minister Lalu Prasad and was renamed Diamond Rail Corridors by incumbent Mamata Banerjee, not a single project has been awarded yet.
Going strong on its green run, the railways have decided to replace the electrical multiple units (EMUs) it uses to operate 2,415 trains in Central Railway and Western Railway zones with those running on three-phase Insulated Gate Bi-polar Transistor (IGBT) technology.
Currently, major port projects have to get clearances under the Coastal Regulation Zone notification of 1991 and an environmental clearance from the central government.
Kingfisher has five A330-200s currently operating in its fleet, which ply between India and the United Kingdom. Deliveries are pending for another 15. Contacted by Business Standard, a company spokesperson said the airline did not ". . .envisage making any changes to the order book at this time".