No Great Takeaways From The Much Awaited Rail Budget!
Nutan Gupta / 08 Jul 2014
The Modi government’s first railway budget is out and what we conclude from railway minister Sadanand Gowda’s presentation is that there are no great takeaways from the much awaited rail budget. However, we present you some of the highlights from the rail budget.
“Fare hike alone can't improve Railways. We need to look at other avenues”, said Rail Minister Gowda. The total receipts for FY15 is pegged at Rs 1.64 lakh crore. The minister is looking forward to seek cabinet approval for FDI in railways, except in operations. The FY15 estimate for surplus is seen at Rs 602 crore. The railway minister further added that there are four projects which are 30 years old, yet incomplete.
The key highlights from Gowda’s presentation and the road ahead:
- Outsource cleaning activities at 50 major stations, separate housekeeping wing for cleanliness and sanitation
- Pre-cooked meals by reputed brands, focus on cleanliness and passenger feedback
- Propose to hike budgetary plan outlay to Rs 47,650 crore. FY15 passenger fare revenue pegged at Rs 44,600 crore
- Reservation system will be revamped and ticket-booking through mobile phones and post offices popularized
- Bullet train on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector
- Onboard housekeeping services will be extended to all trains, will use mechanized laundry services for bedrolls in AC coaches
- Higher speed for existing trains will be achieved by upgrading the present network
- R-O drinking water at stations and trains & corporates encouraged to adopt stations for better maintenance and upkeep
- To Introduce System Of Speedy Clearances For New Rail Tracks
- CCTVs to be used for monitoring cleanliness
- 4,000 Women RPF Constables Will Be Recruited
- New Trains: 5 Janasadharan, 5 Premium and 6 AC, 27 Express Trains, 8 Passenger, 5 DEMU and 2 MEMU services; 11 train extensions
Reality Check:
- 23 paisa lost per passenger per km in 2012-13. Need Rs 50000 crore every year for ten years
- Out of a rupee earned, railways spend almost 94 paisa on salaries, maintenance and capex.
Gowda also stated that he will focus on sanctioning projects rather than completing them as he believes that, the more projects he adds the thinner he will be able to spread his resources. The budget presented in Parliament focuses on “transparency and integrity”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
We feel, markets had a lot of expectation from the railway budget and in anticipation of the same, many had taken positions. However with no major announcement and focus on completion of earlier projects, it appeared to be a damp squib. As a result, the market has reacted negatively with Nifty witnessing a decline of more than 125 points.
It seems, even the Union Budget is unlikely to bring in any fire works for the markets on July 10th 2014. Till then expect the markets to remain range bound.If you want to stay updated with the share market news today, keep a close watch on the indian stock market today with real time movements like sensex today live and overall stock market today trends. Investors tracking ipo allotment status, ipo news today, or the latest ipo india can also follow daily updates along with bse share price live data. Whether you are learning how to invest in stock market in india, preparing for a market crash today, or searching for the best stocks to buy in india, insights on top gainers today india, top losers today india, trending stocks india and long term stocks india help in making informed investment decisions.