Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Tuesday as the Monsoon Session of Parliament gets underway next week with the united opposition set to corner the National Democratic Alliance government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case and railway safety.
The search for a 'perfect decision' derailed a 2006 plan to build diesel and electric locomotive factories under the PPP model.
Red Square and VDNKh easily rank among the most striking places I've visited -- both for their historical significance and architectural splendour.
My admiration for Russian culture, vision and ambition grew with every step as I clocked the miles, Nitin Sathe tells us after a visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
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.
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.
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'.
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 NSE Nifty closed at 4861, lower by eight points. The mid-cap and small-cap indices ended marginally lower.
"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.
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.
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.
To boost domestic manufacturing under the Make in India initiative and reduce dependency on imports, the government is expected to announce in the Budget an increase in the minimum local content requirement for public procurement, with certain sectors being granted exceptions. Currently, firms producing goods, services, or works with at least 50 per cent local content are classified as Class-I local suppliers and are preferred the most in government procurement.
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.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the Mumbai suburban railway would soon get new-design trains fitted with better features for passenger comfort and reducing overcrowding.
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.
For example, railways, roads and highways, and shipping could form a section within the Budget as an omnibus transport sector
'At least one specially designed fully accessible railway car should be added to every train'.
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.
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.
25 per cent of the stalls will be reserved for the under-privileged sections of the society.
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.
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.
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 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.
The forthcoming Railway Budget is, perhaps, going to be the toughest one for Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Overall market reaction to the Budget was neutral. Investors absorbed the changes to the tax rates (positive for salaried class) and capital gains taxes (CGTs, negative due to the removal of indexation and increases. Other proposals largely pertain to supporting rural development, buybacks taxed as dividends, Custom duty changes that impact multiple sectors, higher outlays for clean energy, etc. There's some moderation in the growth of capex outlay across defence, fer
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.
The sources also said that the Budget session of Parliament is likely to start from March 12.
The minister said a premium service for container movement with assured transit time was under consideration for time sensitive cargo.
With an eye on the forthcoming general elections, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday presented a feel good, populist interim Railway Budget in Parliament, cutting mail and express train fares by 2 per cent and keeping freight rates unchanged.
No major announcements or tariff changes for freight or passenger segment likely to be announced.
Presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-2010 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the minister said that Palej, Panoli, Kosamba and Kim in the districts of Surat and Bharuch in Gujarat, Roshanara Garden and Sultanpuri in Delhi, Shastrinagar and Model Town of Ludhiana in Punjab and Vasarpadi in Tamil Nadu will be considered on priority for construction of ROBs and RUBs.
'The government must understand that the Indian Railways is like a Kamdhenu cow. It can look after your GDP, it can look after the health of the nation. But the Kamdhenu cow also needs nourishment.' 'You have not at all looked after the Indian Railways, you have ill treated the Indian Railways, you have mistreated the Indian Railways and you have given the Indian Railways step motherly treatment.' 'I don't think this government has understood the Indian Railways.'
