The Rail Budget to be presented tomorrow may continue with the practice of not raising the fares and freight rates but the possibility of imposition of a safety cess may not be ruled out, at least on the higher class fares.
The solution for railways lay in understanding the strengths of the system,
The Railways are unlikely to carry out any major changes in passenger fares in the Rail Budget for the eighth year in succession, even as more than 100 new trains could be announced, including a dozen non-stop Durontos.
Speed of trains would be increased up to 200 kilometres/hour.
Countering Communist Party of India-Marxist's allegations that she had made Railways bankrupt, she said, "Their government (in West Bengal) is bankrupt. It has Rs 2 lakh crore (Rs 2 trillion) debt. Charity begins at home."
Passengers can now book train tickets 120 days ahead of their travel date.
The Indian Railways has called a two-day meeting of all zonal railway managers in New Delhi this month to review ongoing projects and discuss measures to improve the financial position in wake of a stiff rise in running cost and fears of the PSU missing earning targets.
'The household sector, which is still the largest contributor of financial savings, has been experiencing a decline in the last six years, and it has fallen below 8% of GDP.'
To facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) in high- speed rail projects, the government is likely to allow private sector entry in operations.
'Our concern is about today and there is nothing in the Budget for the MSME sector to feel positive right now.'
Passengers can now look forward to enjoying home cooked local food supplied by self-help groups during their train journey.
The total earnings in Q1 rose 14.54 per cent, while working expenses grew at a measly 4.22 per cent.
Railways proposes to complete over 550 kms of new lines in eight sections, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announced on Friday.
This is Jaitley's first overseas visit since his kidney ailment was confirmed in April last year.
Freight rates for grains, pulses and urea would increase by 10%.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said re-developed railway stations would become iconic structures and centres of economic activity.
Freight earnings accounted for 65 per cent of IR's total earnings of Rs 144,167 crore (Rs 1,441.67 billion) in 2013-14.
A passenger on Guwahati-bound Rajdhani train found that the vegetarian dish he ordered contained pieces of bones.
The railways recently successfully completed an experiment on the Delhi-Agra route for semi-high speed (up to 160 km/hr).
The finance minister may stagger some of the recommendations.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday assured the Delhi high court it will not arrest Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav this month, after which the politician agreed he will appear before the probe agency on March 25 for questioning in connection with a case related to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
Dismissing suggestions that the Rail Budget was West Bengal-centric, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said those raising the issue are 'humiliating' the state and advised journalists not to ask 'politically manipulative' questions.
Softening the demonetisation blow, the Budget for 2017-18 on Wednesday halved the tax to 5 per cent on incomes up to Rs 500,000 but proposed a new surcharge of 10 per cent on incomes between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore and raised duties on cigarettes and pan masala while stepping up allocations for infrastructure, rural, agriculture and social sectors.
Passengers were finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved tickets within the stipulated time and as a result they are losing money
'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the Cabinet tonight cleared the long-delayed proposal for raising FDI limit in defence to 49 per cent and fully opened up the railway infrastructure segment, like high-speed trains, for foreign investment.
'Well done, Mr Jaitley, now go and implement your schemes. No leakages, no lapses and no laziness.'
The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day
This finance minister has come of age. That's not condescension. It is a praise, says Omkar Goswami.
India's railway will borrow Rs 151.03 billion ($2.80 billion) from markets for the financial year 2013/2014.
First Rajya Sabha approved the Rs 45 lakh-crore spending proposed in the Budget, followed by the nod to the Finance Bill that contains tax proposals.
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The Railway Budget is likely to be presented in the second week of July.
Shinde announced that his government is committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community.
The Opposition on slammed the Rail Budget for increasing the burden on the common man, with BJP terming it as "pedestrian" and "discriminatory" while Left said it does not give any hope on railways' future.
Also on the anvil is abolition of distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure and replacing it with capital and revenue expenditure
Insiders said she remained closeted with top railway officials for hours finalising the Budget on Tuesday and left her Rail Bhawan office only at 3.30 am on Wednesday.
Industrial metals (ferrous and non-ferrous) suffered great volatility once the Ukraine War began in February 2022. First, there was a sharp price rise due to fears of supply disruption, followed by weak global demand. China's weakness and rolling lockdowns have hit production and demand.
The railways should leverage its revenues to raise money from the market to modernise and expand its facilities, planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in New Delhi on Monday.
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