PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

***

                                                                                                ‘23’

                                                                                 http://pib.nic.in

                                                New Delhi:          February 26, 2001

                                                                         Phalguna 7, 1922

Railway Budget 2001- 02

 HIGHLIGHTS - I

 INTRODUCTION

Ø     Contribution of the Railways in times of natural calamity

Ø     Railways – a resurgent industry

Ø     Drop in market share despite inherent strengths and advantages

Ø     Dichotomy – commerical or utilitarian

Ø     Challenges facing the Railways

Ø     Inadequate investments due to reduced Capital support from General Exchequer leading to dependence on market borrowings

Ø     Possible solution being funding of socially relevant projects by the State and an alternate multi-source fund for remunerative projects

Ø     Cost-sharing of prioritised projects with state governments worked out with Andhra Pradesh, Tamil nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka

Ø     Austerity and economy drive continues – hike in diesel absorbed within the existing provisions

Ø     Non-traditional sources of revenue to be pursued

Ø     Advisory Committee under the Chairmanship of Sh. Sam Pitroda set up to suggest ways to bring about major improvement in Railway finances

 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE DURING 1999-2000

 

Ø     1999-2000 an extremely difficult year for Railways

Ø     An all-time record of incremental loading of 35 million tonnes

Ø     Passenger earnings – growth of 12%

Ø     Additional burden of Rs 900 cr on account of increased fuel bill due to hike in diesel price and electricity tariff, and other post-budgetary increases

Ø     Gross earnings increased from Rs 33,021 cr in RE to Rs 33,125 cr in actuals

Ø     Working expenses down from Rs 30,909 cr in RE to Rs 30,844 cr in the actuals.

Ø     Pensionary liabilities touch Rs 4,022 cr

Ø     Year ends with drawdown of Rs 1107 cr from Fund balances.

Ø     In view of shortfall in internal resources, plan expenditure restricted to Rs 9057 cr from Budgeted level of Rs 9,700 cr.

Ø     Market borrowings restricted to Rs 2,919 cr compared to Rs 3,000 cr in RE

 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE DURING 2000-01

 

Ø     Railways set to achieve freight loading target of 475 million tonnes.

Ø     Freight earnings at Rs 23,486 cr, however, likely to fall short of target by Rs 122 cr due to drop in lead and change in commodity-mix.

Ø     Passenger earnings continue to be buoyant and likely to exceed the BE of Rs 10,148 cr by Rs 302 cr.

Ø     Position of Traffic outstanding including dues from State Electricity Boards/Power Houses continues to be unsatisfactory, having risen to Rs 3,027 cr to end December 2000; instead of clearance of Rs 500 cr, accretion of Rs 50 cr likely

Ø     Gross Traffic Receipts scaled down from Rs 36,529 cr in Budget Estimates to Rs 35,467 cr in Revised Estimates

Ø     Despite increased expenditure on account of hike in fuel price and restoration work due to several natural calamities etc;  a saving of Rs 300 cr likely to be achieved

Ø     Ordinary Working Expenses in Revised Estimates placed at Rs. 27,815 cr.

Ø     Pensionary liabilities assessed at Rs 5,167 cr against Budget Estimates of Rs. 5,314 cr.

Ø     Internal resource generation reduces and accordingly Plan expenditure re-assessed at Rs 10,002 cr against budgeted outlay of Rs 11,000 cr. 

 


NON-TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF REVENUE

 

Ø     RailTel Corporation of India set up - Optical Fibre Cable to be laid along 62,800 Route Kms of railway track by utilising Railways’ ‘right of way’ to achieve a nation-wide broad band and multimedia network

Ø     More such initiatives proposed to be launched – plans to set up an information technology company to place Railway procurement on an e-commerce platform

Ø     Business plan awaiting approval of Government

Ø     53 sites identified for commercial utilisation of Railway land and air-space – under development through RITES and IRCON

Ø     Rs 81 cr realised to end December, 2000

Ø     Rs 30 cr generated through commercial publicity and advertisement on station and rolling stock

 

SAFETY

 

Ø     Action initiated on acceptance of recommendations of Railway Safety Review Committee

Ø     Outlay on safety related work in Budget is Rs 3,000 cr – covers fresh arisings of replacement works

Ø     Safety grant of Rs 15,000 cr being pursued

Ø     Safety Fund becomes operational

 

SECURITY

 

Ø     High-level Task Force set up to examine the entire issue of security

Ø     Report recently submitted – under examination

 


New initiatives – Freight

 

Ø     Various measure to be initiated to regain market share include

 

ü      Comprehensive delegation of powers to zonal and division level

ü      GMs authorised to devise appropriate marketing strategies at local level

ü      Congested route development charge for heavily saturated routes

ü      Volume discount scheme being continued for third consecutive year

ü      Special lumpsum rates for movement in merry go round stretches targeted at short lead bulk traffic

ü      RO-RO packages extended to Ahmedabad-Nabha and Chennai-Sankrail(Kolkata) circuits

ü      Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) expected to cover the entire network of IR by June, 2001

 

PASSENGER AMENITIES

 

ü      Ticket refunds are being fully computerised on all zonal Railways.

ü      Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are being installed at various important stations and will be later used for issue of tickets also.

ü      For providing quicker information to public, on-line train running position will be available through Cable TV / Internet and on Cellular Phones by connecting National Train Enquiry System to these systems.   

ü      To reduce congestion on ticket counters, proposal to use internet kiosks for ticket retailing is under consideration.

ü      Computerised information on reservation availability status and train movement status will be available on all A class stations.

ü      In our Customer Care Institute, various training programmes have been initiated to train the front-line staff for better customer service.

ü      Top priority would be accorded to provision of drinking water, platform shelters, increasing the length of the platform to accommodate longest train, raising the platform heights and ensure adequate seating arrangements.

ü      To improve sanitation at stations, a large number of ‘Pay and Use’ toilets will be provided and mechanised cleaning will be undertaken.

ü      74 stations to be upgraded as Model stations in addition to existing 210

ü      71 new PRS locations in addition to existing 670

ü      Amenities on the lines to Rajdhani Express trains introduced on 30 trains

 

CATERING

 

Ø     New Catering Policy formulated

Ø     Policy provides for 25% reservation in allotment of catering licence of small catering units to disadvantaged categories

 

HEALTH

 

Ø     Computerised database of non-railway medical facilities available along railway tracks country wise put on RAILNET

Ø     First Aid boxes with wider range of medicines provided in Model stations and long distance trains

Ø     Four Railway Hospitals to be modernised

Ø     One 30-bedded hospital to come up in Tollygunge, Kolkata

 

TOURISM

 

Ø     MOU between Govt. of Maharashtra and Ministry of Railways signed

Ø     Following tourist trains on the anvil

 

ü      Pilgrim tourist train in Andhra Pradesh touching Secunderabad-Dharmavaram(Puttaparthy)-Tirupati-Guntur-Nadikude-Secunderabad circuit

ü      Palace-on-Wheels type of train touching tourist places in AP

ü      POW type of train on ‘Bangalore-Hospet-Hubli-Goa-Mangalore-Hassan-Mysore-Bangalore circuit

ü      Steam safari train in Orissa

 

Ø     “Mata Vaishno Devi” package successfully launched

Ø     Darjeeling Himalayan Railway to be revamped and upgraded – special tourist packages to be designed.

Ø     Regional Rail Museums to be set up at Varanasi and Malda

 

RELIEF MEAUSRES

 

Ø     300 Rakes of fodder and around 20,000 wagons of water carried free of charge to affected areas of Gujarat, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

Ø     49 special trains run to carry relief material and relatives to earthquake victims in Gujarat

Ø     Contributions of Rs 15 cr to Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund; also contribution of Rs 3.58 cr by Railway PSUs

 

KONKAN RAIL CORPORATION

 

Ø     Earning of KRC in 2000-01 expected to be 30% higher than last year

Ø     Railways to continue assisting the Corporation

 


METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT PROJECTS

 

Ø     Following lines commissioned

 

ü      Belapur-Panvel line commissioned for commuter traffic

ü      5th line between Santa Cruz-Andheri

 

Ø     Dum Dum – Tala section already electrified

Ø     Electrification of Ranaghat-Gede also completed

Ø     Ranaghat-Bongaon will be completed within this year

Ø     Link proposed between Ultadanga and Rajarhat to connect Dum Dum airport to Titagarh in the North and Garia in the South

 

Ø     MOU signed between Govt. of Andhra Pradesh and Indian Railways for strengthening the existing suburban infrastructure and services in the city of Hyderabad.

 

PRODUCTION UNITS

 

Ø     During 1999-2000 – all Production Units achieved targets

Ø     RCF, Kapurthala and WAP, Bangalore receive ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management Standard Systems.

Ø     RCF, Kapurthala bags prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award

Ø     RCF bags order for export of 72 MG bogies to Vietnam

Ø     DLW, Varanasi bags order for 12 diesel locos from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Ø     CLW manufactures ‘Navbharati’ – a new WAP-7 loco which can haul 26 coach train at a speed of 140 kmph

 


PSUs

 

Ø     Performance of the Public Sector Undertakings satisfactory in 1999-2000

Ø     IRCON International Ltd. - turnover Rs 538 cr; net profit -Rs 47 cr; dividend -Rs 11.38 cr. 

Ø     Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) - highest ever turnover of Rs 172 cr; net profit - Rs 16 cr; dividend - Rs 3.20 cr.  

Ø     Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) - turnover - Rs 832 cr; profit - Rs 178 cr; dividend - Rs 36 cr

Ø     Indian Railway Finance Corporation - net profit - Rs 301 cr; mobilised Rs 2,836 cr. from market to supplement plan resources of IR; dividend - Rs 65 cr.

 

ANNUAL PLAN 2001-02

 

Ø     Plan kept at Rs 11,090 cr despite no increase in Budgetary Support - an increase of 11% over revised plan outlay of Rs. 10,002 cr for 2000-01

Ø     Budgetary Support at Rs. 3,540 cr; market borrowings placed at Rs 4,000 cr. Balance Rs 3,550 cr to be met through combination of normal internal resources, non-traditional revenues and contribution from General Revenues for Railway Safety Works.

Ø     Thrust of Annual Plan on safety, capacity augmentation and improving passenger amenities.

Ø     Allocation for New Lines increased to Rs 1015 cr from Rs 702 cr in Revised Estimates; Passenger Amenities planhead provided Rs 200 cr against Rs 144 cr in Revised Estimates; Track Renewal planhead gets Rs 2,050 cr against RE of Rs 1,633 cr – an increase of 26%

 


PASSENGER SERVICES

 

NEW TRAINS

 

i.                 New Delhi-Raipur-Bilaspur weekly Rajdhani Express

ii.               New Delhi-Ranchi-Hatia weekly Rajdhani Express

iii.             Bi-weekly express between Gorakhpur and New Delhi.

iv.              Bangalore-Vasco Bi-weekly express.

v.                Pune-Ernakulam weekly express via Londa and Madgaon.

vi.              Asansol-New Jalpaiguri weekly Express.

vii.            Secunderabad-Dharmavaram Express.

viii.          Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Bi-weekly Express.

ix.              Jaipur-Ernakulam Weekly Superfast Express.

x.                Dhanbad-Hatia Intercity Express.

xi.              Howrah-Yashwantpur (Bangalore) Bi-weekly Express.

xii.            Indore-Gandhinagar (Ahmedabad) Express.

xiii.          Howrah-Trivandrum-Nagercoil Weekly express.

xiv.          Kurla-Bhubaneshwar (Via Sambhalpur) Weekly Express.

xv.            Valsad-Patna Weekly Express serving Surat area.

xvi.          Haldia-Asansol Express

xvii.        Jodhpur-Chennai Weekly Express.

xviii.      Solapur-Pune Intercity Express.

xix.          Jodhpur-Hardwar Link Express

xx.            Palghat-Trivandrum Express.

xxi.          Bhubaneshwar-Palasa Intercity Service

xxii.        Asansol-Jhajha-Amritsar weekly Express

xxiii.      Weekly Rajdhani Express to Secunderabad upon completion of New Terminal Works at Hazarat Nizamuddin.

xxiv.       Rampurhat-Howrah Intercity Express.

 

Ø     “Matribhumi” Express trains to be run during peak rush season with only second class and second class sleeper coaches on following routes :-

 

i.             Delhi-Jammu

ii.           Howrah-Delhi

iii.         Howrah-Dehradun

iv.         Delhi-Barauni via Lucknow

v.           Hyderabad-Bangaore

vi.         Mumbai-Gorakhpur

vii.       Mumbai-Varanasi

 

Increase in Frequency

 

i.                 Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days a week.

ii.               Gorakhpur-Dehradun Express from 2 days to 3 days a week.

iii.             Rajkot-Ernakulam Express from one to 2 days and extension upto Okha.

iv.              Jabalpur-Rajkot Express from 2 days to 4 days by extending Rajkot-Bhopal Express to Jabalpur on 2 days.

v.                Sealdah-Darbhanga Ganga Sagar Express from 4 days to daily.

vi.              Vishakhapatnam-Bilaspur Express from 4 days to daily and extension upto Korba.

vii.            Secunderabad-Rajkot Express from weekly to 2 days.

viii.          Nizamuddin-Bilaspur Gondwana Express from 3 days to 5 days by extending Nizamuddin Nagpur Express to Bilaspur.

ix.              Indore-Jaipur Express from weekly to 2 days.

 

Extensions

 

i.                 Surat-Patna Bi-weekly Express from Patna upto Bhagalpur.

ii.               Pune-Varanasi Express to Darbhanga on 1 day.

iii.             New Delhi Guwahati Rajdhani Bi-weekly express to Dibrugarh Town from one day to two days.

iv.               Chennai-Guwahati Bi-Weekly Express to Dibrugarh Town on one day.

v.                Jodhpur-Jaipur Intercity Express to Sawai Madhopur

vi.              Guwahati-Lumding Express to Dimapur.

vii.            Kacheguda-Palasa Express to Bhubaneshwar.

viii.          Jodhpur-Jammu Tawi Express to Ahmedabad

ix.              Howrah – Gorakhpur Weekly Express via Barauni, Ballia and Indara to provide a direct service between Ballia and Howrah.

 

Service introduced / to be introduced on completion of Gauge Conversion / New Lines / Restoration

 

Ø     Upon completion of Peddapally – Karimnagar New Line, two pair of passenger services have just been introduced from 14th February, 2001.

 

Ø     Following services will be introduced on the recently completed Gandhidham-Bhuj Gauge Conversion.

 

(i)                                                                            Extension of Mumbai-Gandhidham Kutch Express to Bhuj.

(ii)                                                                          Extension of Bareilly – Gandhidham Bi-weekly Express to Bhuj.

(iii)                                                                        Extension of Pune-Gandhidham Weekly express to Bhuj.

(iv)                                                                         Two pairs of passenger services.

 

Ø     On recently restored metre-gauge line between New Mal Junction and Changrabana, one pair passenger service to be introduced between Siliguri and Changrabandha via New Mal junction.

 

Ø     One pair of passenger service to be introduced Eklakhi and Gazole and extended upto Balurghat upon completion of the new line.

 

Ø     An express train from Howrah to Digha to be introduced on completion of new line - in interim period a DMU service to be run on 16 km completed portion between Tamluk and Bajkul.

 

Ø     Two pairs of broad gauge service to be introduced upon completion of gauge conversion of Pandharpur-Kurduwadi section.

 

MEMU / EMU Service

 

ü      Kazipet-Dornakal-Vijayawada

ü      Purulia-Adra

ü      Bilaspur-Nagpur

ü      Kanpur-Shikohabad.

ü      Bilaspur-Raigarh.

ü      Bally-Bandel (2 pairs)

 

DMU Service

 

ü      Kharagpur-Jaleshwar-Bhubaneshwar

ü      Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur

ü      Kotkapura-Fazilka

ü      Samastipur-Darbhanga

 

NEW LINES

 

Ø     No fresh new line project included in the Budget

Ø     Investment in new line project to be increased by 45% compared to RE

Ø     New lines completed or would be completed in the current year are :-

i.             Puttaparthi-Penukonda section of Dharmavaram-Penukonda project

ii.           Kashinagar-Kakdweep  section of Lakshmikantapur-Namkhana project

iii.         Kapadvanj-Modasa project.

iv.         Eklakhi-Gazol section of Eklakhi-Balurghat project.

v.           Jaruri-Banspani section of Daitari-Banspani project.

vi.         Bargachia-Munshirhat section of Howrah-Amta project

vii.       Tamluk-Bajkul  section of Tamluk-Digha line

 

Ø     The new lines targeted to be completed in 2001-02 are:

 

i.             Gazol –Buniadpur of Eklakhi-Balurghat project

ii.           Dharmavaram-Penukonda, completing the Dharmavaram-Penukonda project

iii.         Dewas-Maksi new line section.

iv.         Bajkul to Digha of Tamluk-Digha project.

 

GAUGE CONVERSION

 

Ø     Sections of which gauge conversion has either been completed or would be completed before March, 2001 are:

 

i.             Nonera-Seoni section of Guna-Etawah project

ii.           Raxaul-Birganj section

iii.         Gandhidham-Bhuj section

 

Ø     During 2001-02, Railways plan to complete the gauge conversion of the following sections:

 

i.             Seoni-Bhind

ii.           Amguri-Tuli

iii.         Makum-Dangri

iv.         Laxmanthirtha bridge

v.           Gooty-Pendakallu

vi.         Dhrangadara- Kuda

vii.       Wankaner-Morbi

 

DOUBLING

 

Ø     Target for doubling works – 200 km in the current year and 300 km for 2001-02. 

Ø     New doubling works included in the Budget are :-

 

i.                 Ernakulam-Mulanturutti section on Ernakulam-Kottayam-Kayankulam line

ii.               Bandel-Jirat section on Bandel-Katwa line.

iii.             Baruipur to Magraghat

iv.              Harishchandrapur-Kumarganj section on Malda-Kumedpur line

v.                Gooty-Renigunta section-Doubling of remaining single line sections

 

Ø     Following on-going works extended :-

 

i.                 Extension of Sultanganj-Deogarh new line project with a new link from Banka to Barahat .

ii.               Extension of BDR gauge conversion project by a new link from Bowai-Chandi to Khana to connect Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia.

iii.             Extension of Mansi-Saharsa Gauge Conversion project upto Dauram-Madhepur

iv.              Gauge conversion from Krishnanagar-Shantipur as an extension to the sanctioned doubling from Kalinarayanpur to Krishnanagar

v.                Extension of Fatua-Islampur–Dhaniawan-Biharsharif new railway line project to Barbhigha.

vi.              Extension of sanctioned doubling project from Kalinarayanpur to Krishnanagar by providing a new link from Krishnanagar to Charatala on the Krishnagar-Karimpur.

vii.            Extension to Rajkot –Veraval GC project by taking up gauge conversion from Wansjalia to Jetalsar.

viii.          Extension of Eklakhi-Balurghat project by a new link from Gazol to Itahar as Phase-I of Gazol-Raiganj.

ix.              Extension of Rewari-Sadulpur gauge conversion project to Hissar.

x.                Extension of Kanpur-Mathura-Kasganj-Bareilly gauge conversion project to Lalkuan.

xi.              Extension of Lumding-Badarpur-Silchar gauge conversion project from Badarpur to Baraigram.

xii.            Extension of sanctioned GC from Ajmer-Chhitaurgarh-Udaipur project to Umra

xiii.          New line from Banka-Bhitiah Road  as extension to Sultanganj-Deogarh new line project

 

Ø     Following restoration works to be undertaken in 2001-02 :-

 

ü      Nasipur (Azimganj) – Jiaganj Railway line

ü     Teesta Valley narrow gauge line from Sevok to Gillikhola (to benefit people of Sikkim and West Bengal)

ü     Mogra-Tarakeshwar line

 

Ø     New Moinaguri-Jogighopa line to be routed through Changrabandha to facilitate better communication links with neighbouring states.

 


SURVEYS

 

Ø     Following surveys to be taken up in 2001-02 :-

New Line Surveys

 

i.                 Bhagirathi Bridge to connect Nasipur and Jiaganj Railway line

ii.               Donakonda to Vedareva

iii.             Mysore to Mangalore via Madikere

iv.              Latur Road to Mudkhed

v.                Ferozpur Cantt. to Taran Taran

vi.              Halem to Itanagar

vii.            Kharghoda to Santalpur

viii.          Bulb line at Shoranur

ix.              Rotegaon to Punthamba

x.                Sahnewal to Ladowal

xi.              Madurai to Tuticorin

xii.            Vaikam to Vaikam Road

xiii.          Kumbhakonam to Namakal via Jayakondam, Ariyadur, Perambdur and Thuraiyur

xiv.          Shahganj to Amethi via Sultanpur

xv.            Kazipet to Nalgonda

xvi.          Jiribam-Imphal

xvii.        Jhajha to Giridih via Sonuchakai

xviii.      Updating survey for Ernakulam-Punalur-Trivandrum

xix.          Jaypore-Malkangiri

xx.            Howrah-Sealdah 3rd line between Belangar-Bally and additional loop at Dumdum, Baranagar and Bally

xxi.          Budge Budge to Uluberia including a rail cum road bridge.

xxii.        2nd coaching terminal at Trivandrum

xxiii.      Byepass at Bandel and Naihati

xxiv.       Ranjitpura to Yeshwantnagar

xxv.         Development of infrastructure in Kakinada area

xxvi.       Thanjavur to Chennai Egmore via Adiyalur

 

Gauge Conversion Survey

 

i.             Virudnagar to Manamadurai

 

Doubling Surveys

 

i.                 Ujjain to Indore

ii.               Patratu Chandil via Barkhakana

iii.             Gooty-Renugunta section of remaining single line section

 

Bridge Survey

 

Ø     Construction of a bridge over Bhagirathi

 

RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION

 

Ø     Target kept at 425 km. Sections planned to be completed in current year:-

 

i.             Sirhind- Nangaldam-Una

ii.           Ranaghat-Gede

iii.         Ranaghat-Bongaon

 

Ø     Important routes to be completed in the next year are:-

 

i.             East Coast line from Visakhapatnam to Kharagpur.  With this, the entire Calcutta-Chennai route will stand electrified.

ii.           Main line of Eastern Railway, (Sitarampur-Mughalsarai) providing alternative electrified route on Asansol-Mughalsarai section.

iii.         Udhna-Jalgaon section linking two important electrified main trunk routes of Delhi-Mumbai via. Western and Central Railways will be electrified.

 

STAFF AMENITIES

 

Ø     Outlay enhanced by 45% over RE

Ø     Novel scheme called “Own your Own House” being devised

 

SPORTS

 

Ø     Railway sportspersons performance at the National and the International level creditable - 3 Gold and 6 Silver medals won in individual events by Athletes in Asian Track and Field Athletic Meet held at Jakarta in August, 2000

Ø     One gold and one silver in team events

Ø     Recruitment policy for sportspersons liberalised

Ø     Separate sports cadre at gazetted level to be formed

Ø     Allocation for Railways Sports Promotion Board increased by 36% to Rs. 3 cr

 

REFORMS AND RESTRUCTURING

 

Ø     Indian Railways not to be privatised

Ø     Interim Executive Summary submitted by Railway Expert Group under examination

Ø     An Advisory Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Sam Pitroda for suggesting ways and means of initiating comprehensive modernisation of Indian Railways with the application of appropriate technologies set up

Ø     Committee to suggest areas for resource mobilisation in various facets of railway functioning. 

 

INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

 

Ø     Rail link between Petrapole in India and Benapole in Bangladesh recently restored and opened for goods traffic – to pave way for running of passenger services also.

 

 

AK/RKP