Our

business in life is not to get ahead of others but to get ahead of ourselves--to break our own records, to outstrip
our yesterdays by our today, to do our work with more force than ever before. Stewart B. Johnson

Vol. III, No. 11 , 13 March 2 015

Railway Budget 2015

Every year the Railway Budget or Rail Budget is prepared and presented before Union Budget of India. It is an annual financial
Statement of Indian Railways which runs 11,000 trains everyday of which 7,000 are the passenger trains. The Financial
Commissioner of Railways takes the responsibility of compilation of accounts for Railways Budget. At present Smt. Rajlakshmi
Ravikumar is the Finacial commissioner of Indian Railways. The credit of reorganizing the Indian railways goes to East India
Railways Committee of Acworth Committee which was headed by a British railways economist William Acworth. Honorable Prime
Minister Narendra Modis key initiatives of Swachch Bharat Mission, Make in India and Digital India has also stimulated the
Prabhus Rail Budget and he visualized to invest Rs. 8.5 lakh crore investment in Indian Railways in next five years. And for this
funds will be raised from various sources like multilateral development banks and pension funds etc. Annual passenger capacity
of Indian railways is projected to increase from 8.35 billion in 2014-15 to 8.60 billion in 2015-16 and freight capacity is expected to
increase from 1.10 to 1.18 billion tonnes during the same period.
Key points from Rail Budget 2015
Transformation in Railways in next five years; to increase track capacity by 10 per cent to 1.38 lakh kms. Projects worth
Rs 96,182 crore to expand capacity of 9,420 km rail lines.
Railway helpline number 138 will become operational for 247. and toll free number 182 created for security related
complaints. CCTVs to be introduced in selective trains and suburban trains for women safety.
Disposable linen on payment to be available at all stations. Introduction of Operation 5-minute to ensure ticketless
passenger get regular ticket within five minute of entering station and more general class coaches to be added in
identified trains.
SMS alert service to be introduced on train arrival anddeparture; More AC EMU services for Mumbai suburban section,
wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations.
Open wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations; proposal to revamp the station re-development scheme.
Tickets can now be booked 120 days ahead of travel date, instead of 60 days now, to tackle tout menace.
Four dedicated freight corridors to be completed this year; 6608 kms of track to be electrified.
Wagon-making scheme to be reviewed to make it easier forprivate investment; Speed on nine corridors to be increased
from 110-130 to 160-200 kms per hour.
Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad expected by mid-2015. Preparing 5-year
corporate safety plan to be ready in 3 months to identify annual quantifiable targets Rs 6,750 crore allocated for
eliminating 3438 levelcrossings; 970 road-underbridge and road-overbridge to be constructed.
Regulatory mechanism to be set up for deciding on tariff and disputes: Project worth Rs 2,500 crore using BOT annuity
route to be launched.
The benchmark Sensex plunged by over 261 points, logging its worst fall in last two weeks and close below the key 29,000-level
as Rail budget disappointed the market participants. On similar lines, the NSE index Nifty slipped below the crucial 8,700-level by
falling 83.40 points, or 0.95 per cent to close at 8,683.85. According to Market Experts the review of Wagon-Making scheme for
private investors increased the pressure on companies related to the railway sector (Texmaco Rail, Kalindee Rail Nirman, Stone
India, Simplex Castings and BEML) resulting in fall in market indices. The increase in freight has also brought negativity in other
sector companies like Automobiles, IT Capital Goods, Healthcare, FMCG, Metal, Consumer Durables and Power reported lead to
a fall of 1.43 percent with a negative performance of Smallcap and Midcap indices. Prabhu has tried to speak high in Railway
Budget vision and talked about sustainable customer services with more safety and modernized infrastructure and creation
financially self-sustainable railways in India.

Written by: Dr. Renuka Sharma

www.chitkara.edu.in

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is prepared to enhance awareness and for information only. The
information is taken from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed by Chitkara
Business School as to its accuracy. Chitkara Business School will not be responsible for any
interpretations, opinions generated or decisions taken by readers.