Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget 2006-07 presented by Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the Railway Budget in the Parliament on Thursday.
Lalu handled the obstacle of 'departmentalism' with ease.
The aim is to reduce working expense by about 15 per cent.
The Indian Railways will invest Rs 41,426 crore (Rs 414.26 billion) in 2010-11 for sprucing up its network, and over a third of the planned outlay would go towards manufacturing coaches.
State-run Indian Railways will borrow Rs 2,970 crore (Rs 29.7 billion) from the market to finance various projects, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar told Parliament on Wednesday.
The 30-share barometer started higher, but lost its way soon after the railway budget.
'One of the biggest employment generators, the MSMEs, have not got much from the government.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday attacked Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for announcing hike in parcel rates and said many of the measures announced by the minister were initiated by the previous National Democratic Alliance government.
Expectations that a pleasing Union Budget for 2003-04 will be forthcoming tomorrow prompted an upbeat sentiment in the market today, lifting indices and spurring on buying activity in bank, tech and heavyweight stocks. \n\n\n\n
The high-speed free Wi-Fi internet facility is now available at 6,100 railway stations across the country, RailTel said on Tuesday. "The milestone of 6,100 stations with Wi-Fi coverage was reached today (Tuesday) with the commissioning of Wi-Fi facility at Ubarni railway station (Rae Bareli district, UP) in Lucknow Division of Northern Railway," the statement by RailTel noted.
In the history of Indian railway budgets, Suresh Prabhu will perhaps be the first railway minister not to have announced either a single new train or a new railway line
Rail stocks on Thursday fell by up to 8.6 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as cautious investors offloaded shares ahead of the Railway Budget, 2011-2012 to be presented on Friday.
'When people have money in their hands, they make their judgment about whether they want to spend it entirely or spend some out of it.'
The minister plans to reinstate the Railways as the backbone of the economy
Stepping up its offensive against the United Progressive Alliance government on the "tainted" ministers issue, the National Democratic Alliance on Friday decided to boycott the presentation of Railway Budget by Lalu Prasad Yadav in Lok Sabha on Satur
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has slammed the Maha Kumbh as a "Mrityu Kumbh" (Death Kumbh), accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of suppressing the actual toll in the stampede that occurred at the religious gathering. Banerjee also criticized the lack of planning and management at the event, highlighting the plight of Bengal residents who died in the stampede. The BJP, however, has condemned Banerjee's remarks, calling her an "anti-Hindu chief minister" and accusing her of political opportunism.
There's a 13 per cent increase over last year, in an effort to put its flagging revenues back on track.
In July last, fares were increased by 14.2%.
There is a lot of optimism as regards the defence, railway and manufacturing sectors.
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.
Railway investment in the 12th Plan to be Rs 7.35 lakh crore
Passenger fares and freight rates were left untouched
The lawmakers seem as uninterested as those who use the railways.
Deputy leader of BJP in the Rajya Sabha, S S Ahluwalia, maintained that both Houses of Parliament had to be adjourned on Tuesday as the government did not agree to put to vote the discussion on price rise in the Upper House and did not accept adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha.
CAG says Railways lost about Rs 4,300 crore in 2008-2012 because of improper documentation.
The early tabling of the financial Budget ends a 70-year tradition.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said Budget-making was guided by the Prime Minister's words of the government being there to protect the interests of the common man.
Railway Budget is the first indicator of possibly better days
'When I talk to my colleagues in the Railways, they say 'aadmi toh bohot hai, lekin matlab ka aadmi ek bhi nahi hai (the Railways has a bloated workforce, but doesn't have employees with have the skillsets that matter)'.'
Jaitley began his speech by saying that today is the auspicious day of Basant Panjami and that "spring is the season of optimism".
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
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Many of the PPPs have not evinced interest, Prabhu said.
Suresh Prabhu is trapped in the 'rhetoric of his own government'.
'If the markets correct further, PSU stocks could continue to decline.'
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.
Indian Railways has plans to decongest network and become more self dependent.
He has now to show that he can take on the vested interests within the railways which are resisting change through corporatisation
Prabhu said the Ministry was preparing a plan till 2030.
