As experts have to say, this year's Railway Budget will by no means a populist one.
Some say it is time to decongest the existing line infrastructure and cater to the supply shortage of rolling stock to meet the demand for bulk commodities such as coal, cement and foodgrains.
Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday expressed grave disappointment over the railway budget with its chief Sharad Pawar telling a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee that Mumbai has been neglected, which is "not acceptable".
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Most of the railway-related stocks, which had seen smart gains in the past few days ahead of the Rail Budget, saw profit-booking as Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda presented the Budget.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday participated in a traditional 'halwa' ceremony, marking the final stage for preparation of Union Budget 2024-25 to be unveiled on July 23 in Lok Sabha. The ceremony is a ritual in which traditional dessert 'halwa' is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the Budget.
India Inc hailed the Railway Bugdet on Monday as promising and said measures, especially those on containers and freight services, will not only help the industry but benefit the general public as well.
How India performed in 2010-2011 and what Mamata has in store for 2011-12.
Following the death of a software engineer whose car plunged into a water-filled pit at a construction site, the Noida Authority has taken action, including terminating an engineer and issuing show-cause notices. An investigation is underway.
He noted that the diesel price hike has put an additional burden of Rs 3,300 crore on Railways.
The 30-share Sensex and the 50-share Nifty ended flat at the mark of 29,008 and 8,767 respectively.
He said the budget is a watershed moment for Railways.
The Railway Minister has announced a slew of measures that would help to make ticket booking and travelling easier for passengers.
You will see purified drinking water, focus on cleanliness, and ticketing reforms.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take a final call on whether to break the tradition of presenting a separate Rail Budget, by merging it with the General Budget.
The dream-run in railway stocks may soon run out of steam, caution analysts. The rally, which has lasted nearly a year, may meet time-wise correction post the Union Budget announcements as investors begin scalping profits. "There is going to be a build-up in expectations for the sector from the Union Budget, which is still two-odd months away.
Opposition, including Bharatiya Janata Party, Left and other parties, on Tuesday walked out of the Lok Sabha, charging the government with indulging in one scam after another and saying they would not be party to the passage of the Finance Bill and the Railway Budget.
India's railway will borrow Rs 151.03 billion ($2.80 billion) from markets for the financial year 2013/2014.
Finance ministers of states demanded an increase in allocation under 50-year interest-free loan scheme, while fiscally stressed states like Punjab and Kerala pitched for a special package and borrowing flexibility, sources said on Friday. In a pre-budget meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, states have also urged for higher borrowing limits to support fiscal activities, besides additional funds for Jal Jeevan Mission.
Passenger tariff structure will be rationalised so that that the fares of AC first class and AC second class will be 11.5 times and 6.5 times the second-class fares, respectively.
As far as rolling stock programme is concerned, the announcement will be made for manufacturing of 4200 new coaches including 600 LHB coaches in the Rail Budget.
Mamata appealed to business houses to join hands for building partnership with the Railways.
Here is all the action in the Lok Sabha on Railway Budget day.
Watch all the action in the Lok Sabha as the Narendra Modi government is set to present its first Railway Budget.
10 largecaps stocks which stand to gain from the Budget.
The Rail Budget presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in Parliament on Wednesday has received mixed reactions from the commuters in Mumbai.
The Annual Plan for Railway for 2012-13 is put at highest ever Rs 60,100 crore (Rs 601 billion).
Railway Minister P K Bansal has announced that special coaches will be launched in each train with high end facilities.
With rail fares already being hiked...what will the Budget offer aam-jaanta?
The long and irritating experiences of booking train ticket through IRCTC website seems to be a thing of past now as the Railways on Wednesday launched the next generation e-ticketing system enhancing the booking capacity to 7200 tickets per minute and making the whole process much faster and easier.
Participating in a debate on General Budget, Trinamool member Ratna De said the imposition of 10.5 per cent service on rail freight had 'nullified' the 'inflation neutral Rail Budget presented by our leader Mamata Banerjee.'
The political storm in the United Progressive Alliance government over Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi issue on Thursday gave an opportunity to the Bharatiya Janata Party to charge that the government is short of number and is shying away from facing the amendments to the President's address in Parliament.
Improvement in passenger amenities and better interiors would also figure in the budgetary proposals.
The Rail Budget will announce introduction of AC suburban trains in Mumbai.
Experts say Indian Railways must grow its share in the freight market to remain financially sustainable.
Analysts on Monday gave a mixed reaction to the railway budget, with some terming it as a "non-event" saying there were no radical measures to bridge the revenue deficit in the document, and a few calling it "pragmatic" given the limitations.
Railways' freight loading traffic has been scaled down by 100 million tonnes from 1025 million tonnes because of economic slowdown, the minster said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
Trinamool politics set to trump prudence on passenger fares.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will present the Rail Budget on July 1.
