Presenting his third populist Railway Budget in succession, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday effected a steep reduction of air-conditioned class fares and proposed no increase in passenger fares or across the board freight rates but rationalised freight tariff that will bring down diesel and petrol transportation by 8 per cent.
Business Standard caught up with the railway minister after he presented the Budget in Parliament. Excerpts:
You have termed this rail Budget as a historic one, especially because of the turnaround in rail finances. How was it achieved?
The main thing was to keep it simple, keep costs low and volumes high. In my speech, I likened the railways to an ocean. Wherever it turns, it creates a path.
For years, the sheer size of the railways had been considered a liability, instead of an asset. Our fund balances have grown to Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion), when in 2001, we had to defer paying dividends. We turned the size of the railways into a dominance of volume and got more business. Now we are going to obliterate competition.
It is being said that the rationalisation of freight structures will lead to an increase in the prices of cement and steel. Will this have a domino effect on real estate and other sectors?
This is not going to happen. The highest freight class has been lowered from 240 to 220 and in the next three years, it will be reduced to less than 200. Other than that, a 1 per cent loyalty discount is going to be given to increase transportation of cement and steel. The fears expressed are baseless.
This is rationalisation of freight tariffs, not something that is illogical. This rationalisation will lead to more and more people switching to the railways rather than
The Left today said that by keeping Howrah out of the dedicated eastern freight corridor, you had done injustice to West Bengal?
The dedicated freight corridor means that it has to connect ports to places where raw materials and minerals are being mined. The survey for the freight corridor, from Ludhiana to Sonenagar, was done by RITES and other consulting technical firms.
So I am not personally responsible for charting the route. Secondly, I had spoken to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee on this matter and he had told me that the corridor needed to be connected to Haldia. I must say that I have not ruled it out. The Left members should have listened to my speech in full.
In your last two Budgets, you spoke of kullads, khadi and lassi instead of aerated drinks. This year, you have announced on-line ticketing, ATMs, and vending machines. How has this about-turn on Swadeshi happened?
What is so non-Swadeshi about giving good services to the common people in this country? I have started four Garib Raths, which will be air-conditioned, but will have 25 per cent lower tariff than a regular three-tier air-conditioned berth.
This will give an opportunity to the poor to sample what air-conditioned travel is all about. This will ensure that they do not suffer from any heen bhavana (inferiority complex). I have also made sure that all trains have pantry services and bedrolls. My take on Swadeshi is to make sure that the poorest person gets the best possible service and amenities on the Indian Railways.
What next for the Indian Railways?
My vision is to make the Indian Railways the best in the world. A lot of our railways was built by the British. This year, we will start the process of building the freight corridor, which will cost us Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion).
Passenger traffic will be turned around this year. I wanted to break the myth that the only way to improve railway finances was to increase second-class fares.
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