At present, there are 362 major ongoing railway projects across the country.
Presenting the Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, she announced the launching of special recruitment drive to wipe out backlog in filling up the vacancies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Presenting the Interim Railway Budget for 2014-15, Mallikarjun Kharge announced that new trains will be introduced.
The search for a 'perfect decision' derailed a 2006 plan to build diesel and electric locomotive factories under the PPP model.
Going by the number of changes Mr Jaitley's next Budget is likely to see, he will go down in the history of Budget-making as the finance minister who ushered in the largest number of changes in a single Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
Presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, he informed that the number of consequential accidents came down to 194 in 2007-08, as against 325 in 2003-04.
The government has assured Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion)budgetary support to the Indian Railways.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday described the railway budget as 'disappointing' and said the ministry's attempt to attract private firms to fund the rail projects is like 'chasing a dream'.
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Zomato surged over 7 per cent. Maruti, ITC Hotels, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the biggest gainers. Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Adani Ports were among the laggards.
All the Indian Railways' zones have been instructed to ensure availability of Janata Khana. A comprehensive policy, including strict monitoring mechanisms, would be developed soon for achieving these objectives.
The railways has spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22 with a steady growth in expenditure on track renewal, according to an official document.
The NSE Nifty closed at 4861, lower by eight points. The mid-cap and small-cap indices ended marginally lower.
Expectations of muted expenditure on railway infrastructure and the assumption that there would be no further fare hikes may have contributed to the fall, according to analysts.
"In the proud history of independent India, it is for the first time that the returns on the capital investment in the Railways will reach 21 per cent," the railway minister announced as he presented his 5th Rail Budget.
The Railways have decided to introduce a new series of 17 'Sampark Kranti Express' trains as part of National Democratic Alliance government's connectivity revolution that would provide quicker connectivity from states to New Delhi.
In the Railway Budget presented on February 24, the Railways had revised downwards the revenue excess estimate by nearly 65 per cent to Rs 951 crore from the earlier projection of Rs 2,642 crore.
Presenting the Budget in Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the outlay for the Railways is nine times the amount provided in 2013-2014. She said 100 critical transport infrastructure projects for last- and first-mile connectivity for coal, fertiliser and food grain sectors have been identified and will be taken up on a priority basis with investment of Rs 75,000 crore, including Rs 15,000 crore from private sources, she said.
For example, railways, roads and highways, and shipping could form a section within the Budget as an omnibus transport sector
Presenting the Railway Budget on Friday in the Parliament, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed an outlay of Rs 40,745 crore for 2009-2010, which is 2,840 crore more than the allocation proposed in the interim budget.
'At least one specially designed fully accessible railway car should be added to every train'.
Roads, railways, and coal together are likely to account for 70 per cent of the government's takings from the upcoming second edition of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), set to run from FY26 to FY30. In comparison, these three sectors are estimated to have contributed 66 per cent in the first edition of the NMP - FY22 to FY25.
In today's perspective, such deprivation and insult has anyone seen"? the former Railway minister said in a Facebook post.
If the Indian Railways, therefore, wishes to implement its expenditure plans as outlined in the Interim Railway Budget, it has to look for alternative sources of funding. One option under study is to adopt the PPP route to implement new projects. Mamata Banerjee's first Railway Budget in the United Progressive Alliance government, therefore, may outline major PPP initiatives for several new projects, say railway officials.
The minister also announced that in order to continue the pace of infrastructure creation, her ministry proposes to process 53 new rail connectivity proposals in 2009-10 besides the above-mentioned lines.
The new board will have a leaner structure on functional lines headed by the chairman and four members - covering infrastructure, operations and business development, rolling stock, and finance.
As per convention, Railways releases the new time table -- Trains at a glance -- every year on July one across the country. Sources said this year the Railway Time Table Committee, comprising senior officials from various zones, will sit after the Railway Budget is tabled in Parliament.
'We hope there shall be more focus on existing projects and their completion rather than new projects.' 'Any new project announcements should be largely for decongesting the existing lines rather than new lines.'
There were no proposals for additional resource mobilisation in her budget. But she has been helped by an all-time high annual Plan allocation of Rs 41,426 crore (Rs 414.26 billion) for 2010-11, up Rs 1,142 crore (Rs 11.42 billion) from 2009-10.
The Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced her ministry will follow a twin strategy of adopting the highest level of technology and pressing into force well-trained manpower, as emphasised in Vision 2020 for safety and security.
The railway minister's indifference to her portfolio, the hesitation to install anti-collision devices that cost Rs 250,000 per km and the debate over the efficiency of home-grown technology are leading to more accidents.
25 per cent of the stalls will be reserved for the under-privileged sections of the society.
Fifty-seven new trains were proposed by the railways minister Mamata Banerjee as she presented he Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Friday.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
PMO officials said while they had got a request from Trinamool Congress MPs for a meeting with the PM, no letter recommending Trivedi's replacement had been received till late Wednesday night.
The forthcoming Railway Budget is, perhaps, going to be the toughest one for Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
'I am not a mother and never had an abortion either, so I had to understand motherhood and child loss from anecdotal experiences of others.'
The sources also said that the Budget session of Parliament is likely to start from March 12.
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,424, up 75 points. The market breadth was marginally positive -- out of 2,686 stocks traded, 1,341 advaned while 1,263 declined.
'We carry 6.5 billion passengers every year. We have crossed seven billion this year, and are targeting 10 billion by 2030.'
