Disagreeing with the formula of hike of one paisa or two paisa per km, Mamata said, "In railways there is no travel for a distance of mere one km or two km distance.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways. She also said the asset monetisation does not involve selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets. Projects have been identified across sectors, with roads, railways and power being the top segments.
The finance minister's Budget presentation is a sombre affair, yes, but it wasn't as if the Lok Sabha was all serious through the speech.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde on Friday slammed Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for presenting a 'lacklustre, populist budget with an eye on forthcoming elections in West Bengal'.
Indian Railways said it would rope in home-grown talent to develop world-class stations as foreign consultants were charging exorbitant fees.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has circulated a draft Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultations.
Budget should raise revenues & reduce spending to increase capital expenditure.
Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy was on Tuesday elevated to Cabinet rank to take over as Union railway minister replacing Dinesh Trivedi, who was forced to resign after Congress caved in to Mamata Banerjee's pressure.
'The Centre brought down expenses by as much as Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion).'
Parekh said divestment can unlock huge funds.
He will recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said re-developed railway stations would become iconic structures and centres of economic activity.
The Union Minister of Railways, Lalu Prasad while presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, announced the introduction of 43 new trains which include four Garib Raths.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday alleged that Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Friday, took the 'House for a ride' and was 'allowed' to use the floor of the House for his 'devious political ends'.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pitched for front loading of capital expenditure, saying it is critical for revitalisting the economy post the coronavirus pandemic. During a virtual meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap ahead, she also asked ministries to aim to achieve more than their capital expenditure (capex) targets. The Union Budget 2021-22 provided a capital outlay of Rs.5.54 lakh crore, a sharp increase of 34.5 per cent over the Budget Estimate of 2020-21.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said highways sector continues to be a focus area for the government and announcements of multi-modal logistics parks and multi-modal passenger stations will be a game changer.
The government must expedite its plan for asset sale and privatisation, both of which hardly got any mention in the Budget speech, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The focus is on tapping all resources, even foreign agencies.
Railways proposed to introduce 32 new trains including 17 Samparak Kranti Express linking several state capitals and different parts of the country with the Union Capital.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as she did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.
'Our thrust would be on basic facilities first like sanitation'.
Transportation via inland waterways is cost-effective and more environment-friendly than rail or road transportation
A notification issued by the railway board in the evening said new fares would come into effect from May 5.
The higher salaries and pension outgo will be equivalent to about one per cent of the GDP.
The guidelines for strategic disinvestment were issued on Monday itself when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
Capital expenditure by 54 large central public sector enterprises and five departmental arms, having a capex minimum target of Rs 100 crore, rose 93 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-May period to Rs 1.39 trillion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Railways have started this financial year's capex cycle on a stronger note. In the first two months of FY24, the 54 CPSEs, along with the departmental arms, achieved 19 per cent of their combined budget target of Rs 7.33 trillion, Business Standard has learnt.
A bill to allow merging of some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra in a bid to deal with resettlement and rehabilitation those displaced by the Polavaram power project was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid din.
"Earlier, governments were busy in vote bank appeasement but we are busy satisfying people," the prime minister said.
Hygiene and cleanliness of trains and stations a must
The department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) can also seek in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for strategic divestment of PSUs on a case-to-case basis considering investor appetite and sectoral trends.
The 30-share Sensex ended higher by 30 points.
Demonetisation hit informal sector hard and caused job losses which was not addressed by the budget, Moily said.
The railways ministry has a capex target of Rs 1 lakh crore for the financial year.
Events to keep an eye out for...
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu aligns priorities, funding and organisation to shape a transformation agenda.
Sitharaman said, public private partnership to be unleased to develop rail infrastructure.
'Short term volatility is likely due to various factors, global and domestic; investors may use this as an opportunity to increase the allocation to equities.'
Indian Railways has tied up funds for the next two years for its ambitious modernisation programme.
There were heightened expectations from Budget 2017 after the impact of note ban on different sections but most remain unfulfilled.
