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.
Against a turbulent and uncertain background, Budget 2017-18 hewed a steady, forward-looking course, says Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government.
On Monday, a new chapter will be written in Ayodhya's and the country's history with the consecration ceremony at the newly-built Ram temple which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and over 7,000 guests.
Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India, on Wednesday slammed the Rail Budget terming it a mockery while the Congress said the budget is futuristic and reflects the concerns of the 'aam admi'.
The government's top leadership was happy with Prabhu's Budget.
If we can adhere to those standards, most passengers will be happy.
.jpg)
The railway minister said that one-third studies have already been done.
Terming infrastructure as the "backbone" of any nation's development, Goyal while presenting the interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha said India aspires to be a USD 10 trillion economy in the next eight years, and on the anvil is next generation infrastructure of roads, railways, seaports, airports, urban transport, gas and electric transmission and inland waterways.
The Rail Budget we have prepared is in the interest of the nation and railways.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 261 points at 28,747 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 83 points at 8,684.
The lifeline of the nation, the Indian Railways started its service 161 years ago on 16 April 1853.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai also finds a mention among these architectural marvels.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide election in 2014 raised hopes he would draw a line under India's socialist past, cut welfare and reduce the government's role in business.
The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have performed better than the front-liners
Reeling under a series of derailments, the Budget is likely to announce creation of a separate safety fund of about Rs 1 lakh crore over the next five years.
The Union Cabinet will soon take a call on setting up Railway Development Authority of India, an independent regulator, which will decide on passenger and freight rates
A K Bhattacharya lists three reasons why Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will most likely present a full Budget on February 1, 2019.
Out of 120 trains announced in last Budget, only three remain to be flagged off because of lack of broad-gauge lines, Banerjee said.
The Railway Budget will be presented on February 25 while the Union Budget will be presented on February 29.
In his last Budget, Suresh Prabhu, set an ambitious target for capital expenditure.
A team of Trinamool Congress Members of Parliament met Railway Minister and party colleague Dinesh Trivedi soon after he presented the Railway Budget in which he proposed to hike fares across all classes.
IRCTC used to charge Rs 40 per ticket for bookings in AC classes, Rs 20 per ticket in sleeper class
'Our thrust would be on basic facilities first like sanitation'.
'The finance minister and the government have met the immediate challenge. The wine this time is new and also in a new bottle, which, though not full, is less than half empty.'
The Indian Railways has closed 2013-14 with a 15 per cent increase in revenue, rising to Rs 1,40,485 crore, compared to Rs 1,21,831 crore last year.
The Centre could further moderate its divestment target for 2024-25 (FY25), as it does not expect large receipts from asset sales - except some ongoing strategic ones, including IDBI Bank, which could spill over into next financial year. Also, it may drastically reduce its FY24 divestment target of Rs 51,000 crore. "We are still evaluating the Budget estimates for FY25. "New big-ticket asset sales are unlikely.
Accusing the Centre of setting a new trend of playing "dirty politics" for votes through the budget, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the allocation of more funds to poll-bound states is a kind of "bribery".
The project will eventually be rolled out to cover 400 railway stations across India
The Lok Sabha on Monday approved the Rail budget for 2011-12 after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee assured the House of effecting measures to ensure availability of adequate coaches and wagons in the coming years.
Railway Minister joked, broke into poetry and even lost her cool during her 90-minute budget speech.
They may be on the same side of political power, but that did not stop Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and her predecessor Lalu Prasad from taking pot-shots at each other during the presentation of Railway Budget in the Lok Sabha.
The Bhartiya Railway Mal Godam Shramik Sangh said they will resort to disrupting railway services across the country if the government does not heed to their demands.
Railway minister Sadanand Gowda in his Railway Budget speech on Tuesday announced introduction of bullet trains starting off with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector.
The next Rail Budget to be presented early next year could contain a proposal for raising fares to pass on the burden of rising power cost to passengers.
You cannot say Railways' problems will be solved by privatisation. The solution should be an outcome based approach. Very few railways in the world are privatised, Prabhu said.
He will recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement.
RSS-aligned Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Monday expressed disappointment over the government's budget proposals with regard to divestment and foreign direct investment, especially in the insurance sector. The BMS, however, lauded the government for its current efforts on the massive vaccination programme, a special scheme for tea workers in West Bengal and Assam, labour oriented push on infrastructure projects in construction sector and development of five major fishing harbours viz. Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat as hubs for economic activities etc. On other Budget proposals, it said in a statement that "mixing the beautiful concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat with FDI and disinvestment in the Union Budget is disappointing for the employees".
The initiatives intended to benefit the common man include e-ticketing, catering on demand, bio-toilets, food for infants, better stations.
The Railway Minister proposed numerous steps to enhance passengers' safety.
As Indians eagerly wait to see a makeover, here's a look at trains and stations of world's fourth largest railway network.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances