Updated
New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI/Agencies): The Railway Budget for 2016-17 today spared passengers and goods movement from any increase in tariffs while it announced introduction of four new superfast trains and creation of dedicated north-south, east-west and east coast freight corridors by 2019.
Presenting his second Budget in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu promised rationalising of the tariff structure by undertaking a review to evolve competitive rates vis-a-vis other modes of transport and to expand the freight basket as a means of additional revenue mobilisation.
Unlike last year when he tweaked freight rates, Prabhu made no changes either in passenger fares or freight rates.
The four new superfast trains announced by him include 'Humsafar' which will be a fully air-conditioned 3AC service with option of meals. 'Tejas' will showcase the future of train travel in India with speeds up to 130 km per hour with onboard services such as entertainment, local cuisine and wifi. For improving quality of travel for unreserved passenger, a superfast 'Antyodya' express service would be introduced.
The 'Humsafar' and 'Tejas' trains will ensure cost recovery through tariff and non-tariff measures while 'Uday' will be an overnight double-decker along with 'Utkrishit' double-decker air-conditioned yatri express on the busiest routes.
'Deen Dayalu' unreserved coaches with portable water and higher number of mobile charging points would also be introduced.
He also announced setting up of a Rail Development Authority (RDA) to enable fair pricing of services, promote competition, protect customer interest and determine efficiency standards. The draft Bill in this regard will be ready after holding extensive stakeholder consultations.
Outlining the Budget estimates for the coming year, the Minister put the plan size at Rs 1.21 lakh crore. The focus will be on capital expenditure with a mix of various sources of funding in order to ensure the projects are given assured funding.
Gross traffic receipts for the coming fiscal have been fixed at Rs 1.84 lakh crore with passenger earning growth pegged at 12.4 per cent and earning target budgeted at Rs 51,012 crore.
The freight traffic is pegged at an incremental tariff of 50 million tons, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of the economy.
Goods earning is accordingly proposed at Rs 1.17 lakh crore. Earnings on account of other coaching and sundries have been projected at Rs 6,185 crore and Rs 9,590 crore respectively.
Pension outgo has been budgeted at Rs 45,500 crore in the coming year. Revenue generation has been targeted at Rs 1.84 lakh crore. Financial performance for the current year has reflected a savings of Rs 8,720 crore, neutralising most of the revenue shortfall.
Operating ratio has been targeted at 92 per cent for the coming year as against 90 per cent in 2015-16, restricting the growth of ordinary expenses by 11.16 per cent after building in impact of 7th Pay Commission recommendation, planned reduction in diesel and electricity consumption.
The three new freight corridors of North-South will connect Delhi and Chennai, East-West connecting Kharagpur to Mumbai and East Coast from Kharagpur to Vijawada.
"It is proposed to put these three projects on high priority to ensure structuring, award and implementation in a time-bound manner through innovative financing schemes including PPP," Prabhu said in his more than hour long speech.
Before the current financial year ends on March 31, almost all contracts for civil engineering work would have been awarded.
Contracts worth Rs 24,000 crore have been awarded since he assumed office against Rs 13,000 crore worth of contracts in the last six years.
Highlights
* No changes in passenger fares, freight
* Direct procurement of diesel to help save Rs 1,500 crore in 2016-17
* Intend to use drones and GPS for monitoring physically remote projects
* Logistics and warehouse parks to be created on PPP mode
* Railways to monetise surplus land by leasing it out for horticulture and tea plantation
* Cleaning of coach on demand to be introduced
* Disabled friendly toilets will be introduced in 11 Class-A stations this year
* New train 'Tejas' at 120 km per hour
* Watchdog proposed for Indian Railways
* Proposal to create rail auto hub in Chennai
* Circuit trains to connect important pilgrim centres
* Fully unreserved superfast trains coming on heavy traffic routes
* IRCTC to begin marriage catering service in phased manner
* New R&D organisation to be established
* Rs.50 crore to be provided for start-ups by railway employees
* E-catering to be extended to all stations
* Local cusine of choice to be made available to rail passengers
* LIC to fund Rs.1.5 lakh crore over five years on favourable terms
* Two elevated tracks envisaged from Churchgate and CST on Mumbai's suburban railway system
* Specialised teams envisaged in specific areas to improve efficiency
* All-India 24X7 helpline for women
* With new uniforms, railway porters will become facilitators
* Half of lower berths reserved for senior citizens
* Baby food at stations, child menu on all trains
* E-booking of tickets for accredited journalists
* Local art to be highlighted at railway stations
* Academic facility at Vadodara being upgraded to university level
* Railways to generate 9 crore mandays of employment in 2017-18 and 14 crore mandays in 2018-19
* To increase lower berth quota for senior citizens by 50 percent
* Dedicated freight corridors envisaged for North-South, East-West and East Coast alignments
* Ticket cancellation via phone calls soon
* 1,600 km of rail electrification this year, 2,000 km next fiscal
* Camera surveillance in all stations in phases
* Installation of 1,780 automatic ticketing machines
* 1 lakh calls made daily to get rail passengers' feedback:
* Tenders to become paperless
* 44 new projects covering 5,300 km
* Proposal to electrify 2,000 km
* Social media being increasingly used to ensure transparency
* Online booking of retiring rooms made possible
* 17,000 additional bio-toilets to be provided by the end of current fiscal
* Finalised bids for two new loco factories under Make in India initiative
* WiFi facilities at 100 more stations this year and 400 stations next year
* 2,800 km of broad gauge track conversion envisaged
* Seven km of broad gauge lines to be commissioned every day during 2016-17
* Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every day by 2018-19
* Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years
* Rs.40,000 crore expected from the government as budgetary support
* Better connectivity to northeastern states
* 2,800 km of new railway lines to be commissioned next fiscal
* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire nation
* Making all-out efforts to translate dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into reality
* Aiming to achieve operation ratio of 92 percent
* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year's estimates
* Envisaging capital expenditure of Rs.1.21 lakh crore
To be updated