HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET 2014-15 ********************************************************** Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda announced Railway Budget for 2014 on 8th July 2014. Note: The new government has already increased railway passenger fares by 14.2 per cent and the freight carriage charges by 6.5 per cent Key Points: · 23 million passengers travel in 12,500 trains daily. · FinMin has granted additional capital of Rs. 1100 core and Rs. 273 crore as Railway share. · Railways carries only 31 per cent of freight carried by all modes. · Total earnings at Rs. 1.64 Lakh Crore in 2014-15. · Provision of ` 1,785 crore for Road-over-bridges and Road-under- bridges; speedy clearances, online design standardization and decentralised sanctioning powers. · Gross traffic receipts in 2013—14 was Rs 12,35,558 crore; operating ratio was 94 per cent · Freight traffic growth of 4.9% amounting to 1,101.25 million tonne, an increment of 51.07 million tonne over 2013-14 · Advanced technology for rail-flaw detection - Vehicle Borne Ultrasonic Flaw Detection System to detect rail and weld fractures and pilot trials on Ultrasonic Broken Rail Detection System (UBRD) at two locations. · 4000 women RPF constables to be recruited in addition to 7000 RPF constables. · Use of bio-diesel up to 5% of total diesel fuel consumption. · Recent fare and tariff hike to mop additional revenue of about Rs 8,000 cr. · Substantial increase of 40% in budget allocation for cleanliness. · Bullet train on Mumbai-Ahmadabad Sector · Battery operated cars for differently-abled and senior citizens at major stations. · Loss per passenger per kilometre up from 10p (in 2000-01) to 23p (2012-13). · Highest ever plan outlay of Rs 65,455 crore for 2014-15. · Expenditure in 2014-15 pegged at Rs 149,176 crore. · E-procurement to be made compulsory for procurements worth Rs 25 lakhs and more. · Substantial increase of 40% in budget allocation for cleaniliness · Byyappanahalli in Bengaluru area to be developed as a coaching terminal. Budget Estimates 2014-15 Growth in passenger traffic - 2%. Freight Earnings – Rs 1,05,770 cr. Total Receipts - Rs 1,64,374 cr; Total Expenditure – Rs 1,49,176 cr; Pension estimated at Rs 28,850 cr. Projects for Remote Areas, North-East, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana Higher funds for onging 23 projects in Northeast including 11 National Projects; Rs 5,116 cr outlay earmarked projects of Northeast i.e. 54% higher than previous year. Udhampur-Katra Rail link dedicated to the Nation Focus on completion of missing link of Banihal to Katra. 29 Projects, costing Rs 20,680 cr, currently running in Andhra Pradesh & Telengana. E-ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minutes to allow 1,20,000 simultaneous users. Staff Welfare Per capita contribution to Staff Benefit Fund increased from Rs 500 to Rs 800. Speed of Trains Bullet train proposed on identified Mumbai-Ahemdabad sector. Setting up of Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centers of the country; Rs100 cr provided for initiating the project. Increasing of speed of trains to 160-200 kmph in select 9 sectors. Trains 5 new Jansadharan trains to be introduced. 5 Premium and 6 AC trains to be introduced. 27 new Express trains to be introduced. 8 new passenger services, 5 DEMU services 2 MEMU services to be introduced and run of 11 trains to be extended.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:36:45 +0000