Trivedi to present maiden Rail Budget tomorrow
"Rail Budget is going to be like whatever it should be," Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said in New Delhi on Tuesday while giving finishing touches to the documents of budget 2012-13.
Trivedi will present his maiden Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha after the question hour on Wednesday.
Asked about the possibility of fare hike, which has not been touched since 2003, he declined to comment saying, "Tomorrow is the budget, no preview."
There are speculations about the possibility of safety cess being imposed on train fares to mop up Rs 5,000 crore as recommended by Kakodkar Committee.
Parliamentary committees, Planning Commission and railway unions have suggested fare hike in all classes to raise funds for the national transporter.
Given the financial condition of railways, Trivedi has to make a tight ropewalk catering to the need of massive upgradation of rail infrastructure and also improving passenger amenities.
Despite constraints, Trivedi could announce some new trains including a few for North-east region.
Rail Budget likely to focus on signalling system upgrading
Railway Min Dinesh Trivedi is likely to spell out a blue print for upgrading signalling and telecommunication system to prevent accidents in the upcoming Rail Budget despite financial constraints.
Besides, the Rail Budget will have proposals for state-of-the-art coach manufacturing units in Karnataka and Gujarat.
Railways which has sought Rs 50,000 crore from Finance Ministry as gross budgetary support (GBS), has got only Rs 25,000 crore for the next fiscal from the central kitty.
The multi-crore action plan for upgradation of the system is slated to cover the 19,000 km long major trunk route such as New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Kolkata and New Delhi Delhi-Chennai corridors.
"The upgradation exercise is a long-term plan to be carried out in a phased manner," said a source in the railways on Monday.
In-cab signalling system, similar to the technology followed in European countries and already available with Delhi Metro, would be aggressively taken up by the railways, a mention of which is expected in Trivedi’s budget speech on 14th March.
Keen on introducing high speed trains, Trivedi is also likely to announce a new bullet train corridor for Rajasthan.
The 591-km Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur route is slated to be taken up for pre-feasibility study for introducing bullet trains, which run at a speed of 350 km per hour, and an announcement to this effect is likely to be made on 14th March.
Trivedi could also announce a proposal for induction of trains sets, which run at 200 km per hour, on the Delhi-Mumbai route.
A train set consists of a high horse power electronic locomotive with about 10 modern coaches and is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore.
Green initiatives are also likely to get a big boost this time as a proposal for manufacturing as many as 2,500 environmental-friendly toilets could be included in the budget.
The Rail Budget 2012-13 is also slated to have measures for improving passenger amenities at stations and trains.
Railway Minister could announce plan for manufacturing 25,00 green toilets in the next fiscal as green initiative.
Railways freight traffic up by over 5 percent
Indian Railways have carried 875.60 million tonnes (MT) of freight traffic during April 2011-February 2012 as against the freight of 832.66 MT carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 5.16 percent.
In February, railways carried 83.76 MT of traffic, an increase of 6.96 million tonnes over the freight of 76.80 MT carried during February 2011, showing an increase of 9.06 percent. (DD-13.3)
India: highlights of the 2012/2013 budget
The announcement of the central government's budget is a highly commented event by Indian economic players. Indeed, it is possible to infer from the budget, the priority areas for projected public spending and therefore the economic model, as well as the sources and ways of financing such spending.
While the 2011-2012 budget deficit has turned out to be larger than expected (5.9% of GDP versus the projected 4.6%), the 2012/13 budget focuses on gradually trimming public financing needs. The budget will strive to reduce the deficit to 5.1% in 2012/13, to 4.5% of GDP by 2013/14 and to 3.9% by 2014/15.
The draft budget was cautiously received by the markets. The budget consolidation effort primarily focuses on relatively uncertain variables (the dynamics of an increase in revenues) while on the expenditure side, the area for projected cuts (subsidies) will affect the purchasing power of consumers and may be fiercely challenged by political opponents. Lastly, no clear timetable has been given for reforms, and a delay in the application of measures could then imply non-compliance with the target.
The Indian government has announced its proposals for the 2012/13 budget
On March 16, the Indian Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, presented the central government's budget for financial year 2012/13 (starting April 1) to Parliament. The importance of this budget is heightened by the crucial issues currently at stake (sluggish growth, high budget deficit in 2011/12, implementation of the 12th five-year plan and defeat of the government coalition in the latest regional elections). The government is aiming for a budget deficit of 5.1% of GDP in 2012/13 compared with a revised figure of 5.9% in 2011/12, much higher than the official target set at 4.6% of GDP.
The Indian authorities include the following assumptions in their draft budget: 7.6% growth YoY for the 2012/13 financial year after a disappointing 6.9% estimated for 2011/12 (linked to the slowdown in the industrial sector) and inflation that is expected to continue decelerating in upcoming months before stabilizing (the assumption factored into the budget is 5.7% inflation measured by the GDP deflator).
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