Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal did not hike passenger fares.
The forthcoming Budget, the last full one before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is expected to contain a number of sops and feel-good announcements, especially regarding social sector schemes.
Railway Budget will be presented on February 26.
Besides advancing the presentation of the Budget to perhaps the first week of January, , there are four new initiatives that could be rolled out from the next Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
To further improve rail connectivity and infrastructure development, 22 stations located at metropolitan centres and major tourist centres will be developed through public-private partnership, the President said.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday claimed a senior railway official had flagged a fault in the signal interlocking system in February and warned of the train accident risk but the problem was not rectified which led to the Balasore train crash.
With the Rail Budget scheduled to be presented in the Lok Sabha on July 3, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that it will be a people's budget.
Expressing commitment to augment the country's infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed to significantly enhance capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal, besides creating institutional structures and giving a big thrust to monetizing assets to achieve the goals of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Sitharaman said NIP, that was launched in December 2019 with 6,835 projects, has now been expanded to 7,400 projects and around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure ministries have been completed. "For 2021-22, I propose a sharp increase in capital expenditure and thus have provided Rs 5.54 lakh crores which is 34.5% more than the BE of 2020-21," the finance minister said.
While Birla did not specify the financial implications of the move, sources said the Lok Sabha Secretariat can annually save more than Rs 8 crore with the subsidy coming to an end.
Most of the members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were seen wearing face masks. However, members had crowded the Lok Sabha chamber, while hardly a handful of others, including union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal, were seen seated in the Rajya Sabha chamber.
This is the Upper House's third best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017, the Rajya Sabha officials said.
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
As per practice a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in the election year and a full-fledged budget presented by the new government.
Suresh Prabhu announced ambitious plans.
The Rail Budget we have prepared is in the interest of the nation and railways.
He was asked if there will be any roll back in the hike in passenger fares.
Indian Railways plans Rs 39,000 crores non-fare revenue. Via: Branding of trains. Vinyl-wrapping of Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Garib Raths. Moving billboards.
The Railway Minister proposed numerous steps to enhance passengers' safety.
Budget proposals have set four goals to transform Indian Railways.
The Congress on Thursday sought to downplay the Dinesh Trivedi episode, saying it is an internal affair of the government and it could not be discussed outside.
After presenting his first railway budget, Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said he was not for populism but wanted to be "realistic" to ensure that the national transporter thrives for the people of the country.
'China is struggling to get out of its property bubble.' 'Japan took 35 years to walk out of its equity bubble.' 'Bubbles can be difficult to forecast.'
On a day of dramatic developments, The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday night sought the removal of its senior-most nominee in the Union Cabinet, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, hours after he proposed a hike in railway passenger fares, plunging the UPA government in an unusual political crisis.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament, the minister said there are 14 lakh (1.4 million) employees of Indian Railways -- from officers to gangmen and the scheme will benefit all of them.
Construction of more underpasses besides road overbridges, dedicated passenger corridors are also on the anvil, the railway minister said.
The government's top leadership was happy with Prabhu's Budget.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament, she said the stations are Ambala Cantt., Bholpur, Ernakulum, Gorakhpur, Jammu, Jhansi, Kharagpur, Kota, Surat and Thane.
According to sources close to her, the budget in a way would reflect Mamata's vision for the Railways in the coming years and means of generating resources for key projects.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
Following the Budget being announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, leaders across the political spectrum provided their views.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad speaks on how he achieved the railways' turnaround.
The Lok Sabha will apply guillotine on discussions on demands for grants by the third week so as to complete the entire budgetary process in Parliament by July 27.
Ugly scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday when Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress members came to the verge of a clash over the Railway Budget whose withdrawl was demanded by members from West Bengal.
'Are all roads in India privatised? Are governments not playing a role in airports or ports? If they (private players) want to set up lines for a specific requirement, I see no reason to object. It will expand the opportunity and passengers will also benefit.'
'Duronto' trains, a non-stop service connecting metros and major state capitals, was announced on Friday by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Passengers can now buy reserved tickets from 5,000 post offices, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said presenting the Railway Budget on Friday.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has circulated a draft Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultations.
'We need to put aside our anxieties about the Budget for now and possibly for long, and carry on as best as we can,' advises Shreekant Sambrani.
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