Rail Budget 2013: Ten things to know ahead of the minister's speech - NDTV

NDTV | Updated On: February 26, 2013 09:13 (IST) Pawan Kumar Bansal presents his first Rail Budget today and is tasked with balancing the need of the Railways to get additional revenue, with the need of his party, the Congress, to make voters happy given much speculation that this could be the last Budget before general elections due next year. The big question being asked hours before he makes his speech in Parliament at noon today is - will he raise passenger fares again? Here is the Rail Budget 2013 made easy in 10 point: A Congressman will present the Rail Budget for the first time since the UPA coalition came to power nine years ago, in 2004. In fact, it is after 18 years that the Railway Ministry is not controlled by a regional party. Mr Bansal, who took over as Rail Minister in October last year, had hiked passenger fares by 21 per cent last month, the first hike in 10 years, aiming for additional revenue of Rs. 6,600 crore. But the recent de-regulation of diesel and the subsequent rise in prices has negated the additional revenue which the Railways expected to mop up, Mr Bansal said. The Railways is running at annual losses of about Rs 27,000 crore ($5 billion). It is likely to miss its revenue target of Rs. 1.35 lakh crore for the current fiscal. From April, 2012, to January, 2013, it has earned about Rs. 1.1 lakh crore, which means it needs to earn Rs. 34,000 crore in the next two months to meet the target. Mission impossible? But sources said a section in the Congress is opposed to another fare hike in view of the general elections next year. Mr Bansal met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the contours of his Budget. Mr Bansal is likely to announce passenger-friendly measures like an improvement in catering services, development of stations and the launch of about 100 new trains. Today's budget is also being watched keenly to see if the minister will set up an independent tariff regulator. Industry would like a concrete roadmap on the $20 billion dedicated freight corridor project. It is also watching closely to see if the minister will encourage investments through public-private partnerships. There is much interest in whether the minister can try and sell 43,000 hectares of unused land to fund expansion. Last year, Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool Congress had hiked fares in his Rail Budget. His own party was the loudest in its opposition to the move and Mr Trivedi had to resign a few days later. Months later Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee stomped out of the UPA over reform measures. For Profit Update, via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEC8uljU52QpvXeZ6yYAKFCjlBSVA&url=http://profit.ndtv.com/news/cheat-sheet/article-rail-budget-2013-ten-things-to-know-ahead-of-the-ministers-speech-318523

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