New Delhi: The Railway Budget for 2013-14 on Tuesday spared passengers from any further hike in fares but raised various other charges on tickets along with freight tariff of less than 5 percent.
Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who had effected an across-the-board hike in passenger fares only last month, said he does not intend to pass on the impact of deregulation of diesel price for now and the Railways will absorb a burden of Rs 850 crore on account of this.
The first Congress minister to present a Railway Budget in 17 years, Bansal adopted Fuel Adjustment Component introduced by former Trinamool Minister Dinesh Trivedi which will be dynamic in nature and change in either direction with revision in fuel cost twice a year.
He said this may result in an upward revision of freight tariff, effective from April 1, this year, by less than 5 percent. In his 75-minute speech which was drowned in opposition slogan-shouting towards the end, Bansal said there are a number of supplementary charges which have not been revised for last several years.
"I propose to effect marginal increase in some of these. These include supplementary charge for superfast trains, reservation fee, clerkage charge, cancellation charge and tatkal charge," he said, without specifying the quantum of these charges.
| Salient features of Rail Budget 2013-14 |
| PK Bansal is the first Congress minister in past 17 years to present Rail Budget |
| 12th Plan railway size to be Rs 5.19 lakh crore, with gross budgetary support of Rs 1.94 lakh crore |
| Many projects are not being funded in a time-bound manner: Railway Minister |
| Loss in railways led to deterioration of services: Bansal |
| Indian Railways faces shortfall of Rs 95,000 crore |
| Elimination of 10,700 unmanned level crossings targeted during the Plan; no more new such crossings to be created |
| Identification of 104 stations for upgradation in places with more than one million population and of religious significance |
| Indian Railways plans to launch corporate safety plan by 2014 |
| Railways growth linked with overall growth |
| Rail networks has to be expanded at much faster rate, says minister |
| Special AC coaches 'Anubhuti' to be introduced in select Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains to give excellent ambience with commensurate fare |
| Internet ticket to be four time faster than present. IRCTC website to be revamped |
| Online reservation time to be expanded |
| New Gen e-ticketing system to be introduced |
| Free-wi-fi facility to be provided in selected trains |
| Railways to use Aadhar data base for bookings and validation of passengers |
| Educational express for youths |
| Rs one lakh crore to be raised from public-private partnership, Rs 1.05 lakh crore through internal resources in the 12th Plan |
| Rs 100 crore to revamp stations of Delhi and NCR |
| ISO certification mandatory for trains |
| Helpline number to address food quality issues 1800-111-321 |
| Six more Rail Neer bottling plants |
| Rail line in hill states top priority |
| New line between Manali –Leh proposed |
| Ten percent vacancies reserved for women in RPF recruitment |
| Common rail-bus ticket to be introduced for Katra- Vaishnodevi pilgrims |
| New train Azadi Express to places linked with the freedom struggle to be introduced, fares to be concessional |
| Railways set to enter 1 billion ton freight club of China, Russia and US |
| New coach manufacturing and maintenance facilities to be set up in various places including Rae Bareli, Bhilwara, Sonepat, Kalahandi, Kolar, Palakkad and Pratapgarh |
| Rail connectivity to border areas top priority |
| Rs 9000 crore investments expected including Rs 3,800 crore in port connectivity and Rs 800 crore in iron ore mines connectivity. 47,000 vacancies for weaker sections and physically challenged to be filled up soon |
| Railway Energy Management Company to be set up to harness solar and wind energy |
| Air-condition locomotives proposed |
| Indian Railway Institute for Financial Management to be set up at Secunderabad to train rail officers on a regular basis |
| Rs 3,000 crore loan from Finance Ministry re-paid with interest by Railways this financial year |
| Railways to set up a Debt Service Fund |
| Indian Railways freight loading traffic scaled down by 100 million tonnes from 1025 million tonnes because of economic slowdown |
| Freight earning to grow by 9 percent to Rs 93,554 crore |
| Freight target fixed at 1,047 MT for 2013-14, 40 MT over the current year |
| 5.2 percent growth in passenger traffic expected in 2013-14 |
| No hike in passenger fares |
| Tatkal charges, reservation and cancellation charges for superfast trains hiked |
| Indian Railways hopes to end 2013-14 with a balance of Rs 12,506 crore |
| Operating ratio expected to improve to 87.8 percent in 2013-14 from 88.8 percent in the current fiscal |
| Railway revenues to show a balance of Rs 12,506 crore in 2013-14 |
| Planned investment of Rs 63,363 crore for 2013-14, including Rs 600 crore from PPP route |
| Diesel price hike added Rs 3,300 crore to fuel bill of Railways |
| 5 percent average increase in freight |
| Dynamic fuel adjustment component to be introduced on freight rates from April one, that will result in less than five percent increase in rates |
| An independent Rail Tariff Authority has been formalized |
| Deregulation of diesel prices and hike in electricity tariff to result in a burden of Rs 5,100 crore in 2013-14 |
| 67 new express trains, 26 new passenger trains announced |
| 500-km new lines to be completed in 2013-14 |
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(JPN)
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