RAILWAY BUDGET 2016-2017 Expendit; New Source Of Revenue, New Norms & New Structures Appreciable

PHD Chamber has described the Railway Budget 2016-17 as an expedient budget which has a well-defined strategy and stresses on modernization, employment generation, freight movement, socio-economic welfare and private participation.

The employment focus of the budget is highly encouraging as Railways shall generate 23 crore many days by 2018-19 of which 9 crore man-days are envisaged in FY17-18 and 14 crore  in FY18-19. The formulation of three pillars of strategy viz. new sources of revenues, new norms and new structures shows the government’s commitment towards modernization and expansion of the system. Allocation of 8.5 lakh crore to be spent on modernization of railways in the next 5 years is highly appreciable. Introduction of very modern train systems called train sets, up lifts and escalators at major stations, preparation of 5-year corporate safety plan, modern track structures, paperless working in material management is highly encouraging as these will provide state of the art infrastructure to the people. These along with digitized mapping of land records of railways, introduction of SMART Coaches and on-board services such as entertainment, local cuisines, Wi-Fi etc will facilitate modernization of the Railways in the coming times.

No hike in Railway Passenger Fares is good as the economy was facing severe inflation during the last many years and will be good respite to the common man. The creation of Joint Ventures with State Governments for undertaking rail based projects is a historic decision and will open up new avenues for sharing the ownership of Railways, enhance management bandwidth for project execution, strengthen the spirit of cooperative federalism and enable States to jointly decide their priorities for development of backward regions. The announcement of 44 new projects and setting up of 2 locomotive factories under the Make in India initiative of the government is inspiring as these initiatives will attract more investments in the economy.

The announcement of three new train services- Humsafar, Tejas and UDAY for the reserved passengers will add to the glory of the Indian Railways in the coming times. The rail budget rightly focuses on socio-economic upliftment of masses as the introduction of Antyodya Express and addition of coaches in Deen Dayalu for unreserved travel rightly asserts it. The expansion of Vikalp Scheme to provide choice of accommodation in specific trains to wait-listed passengers and measures to improve the cleanliness on stations and trains show government’s commitment towards welfare of passengers. The expansion of freight basket, tariff rationalization for the freight and building terminal capacity will ensure timely supply of goods and services in the economy. Bringing in broad-gauge network in certain North-eastern states will help in improving their connectivity in the country, thus leading to growth of services sectors such as tourism in these states. The Rail Budget focuses on women safety as the budget proposes reserved middle bays in coaches along with all India helpline numbers and CCTV surveillance at 311 stations.

Snapshot of Railway Budget 2016-17

Budget Estimates  

Gross Traffic Receipts	Rs 1,84,820 crore
Passenger earnings	51,012 crore
Freight traffic	50 million tonnes
Goods earnings	Rs. 1, 17,933 crore.
Other coaching sundries	Rs. 6,185 crore Rs. 9,590 crore
Ordinary Working Expenses	Rs. 1,23,560 crore
Pension outgo	Rs 45,500 crore
Plan Size for 2016-17	Rs. 1,21,000 crore
Operating Ratio	92%

Source: PHD Research Bureau compiled from Railway Budget 2016-17,  

Ministry of Railways, Government of India

Major announcements

Quality Services- Wi-Fi Service at 100 Stations is to be commissioned this year and at 400 more stations in the next 2 Years. Track Management System (TMS) will be implemented on entire Indian Railways. For safety purposes, all India 24/7 helpline number 182 has been introduced and CCTV surveillance would be provided at 311 stations. In pursuance of the objectives of Accessible India Campaign, Indian Railway will ensure that all stations under redevelopment are made disabled friendly. 17000 Bio-Toilets in Trains under Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Mission will be set up across stations. Quota of lower berths for senior citizens and women will be increased with middle bays reserved in coaches for women. 

Vision2020- By 2020, Indian Railways look forward to meet the demands of the common man such as reserved accommodation on trains being available on demand, time tabled freight trains with credible service commitments, high end technology to significantly improve safety record, elimination of all unmanned level crossings, punctuality increased to almost 95%, increased average speed of freight trains to 50 kmph and Mail/Express trains to 80 kmph, semi high speed trains running along the golden quadrilateral and zero direct discharge of human waste.

Station Redevelopment and better connectivity to areas with difficult terrain- Multilateral Financial Investment Partnership with State Governments for redevelopment of stations have been proposed. Indian Railways have opened the Broad Gauge Lumding-Silchar section in Assam. It also brought Agartala, the capital of Tripura on to the Broad Gauge network. In J&K, work on Katra-Banihal section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project is progressing satisfactorily. It is proposed to take up the new freight corridors in areas of North-South connecting Delhi to Chennai, East-West connecting Kharagpur to Mumbai & East Coast connecting Kharagpur to Vijayawada through innovative financing mechanisms including PPP.  

New trains facilities- New trains namely Humsafar, Tejas and Uday Train Services are proposed to be introduced for the reserved passenger. Antyodaya Express is proposed to be introduced over long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man. Two to four Deen Dayalu coaches will be added in some long distance trains for unreserved travel to enhance the carrying capacity.

Railways to increase revenue through non-fare sources- The current revenue through non-fare sources is less than 5% and it will be increased to world average of 10% by next five years. For this purpose, monetizing land along tracks, monetizing soft assets, advertising and overhauling of Parcel business would be put in place.  Railways would focus to increase productivity and better manufacturing practices. It is aimed to generate annualized revenues of about Rs.4,000 crore by 2020.

Railway Planning & Investment Organisation- Indian Railway intend to set up a Railway Planning & Investment Organisation for drafting medium (5 years) and long (10 years) term corporate plans. Bids Finalized for setting up two Loco Factories under ‘Make in India’ initiative. Under ‘Make in India’, the Indian Railways was able to finalise the bids for setting up two loco factories with an order book of about Rs. 40,000 crore. The ‘Vikalp’ (Alternative Train Accommodation System) scheme introduced in October 2015 will be expanded to provide choice of accommodation in specific trains to wait-listed passengers. Railway proposes to set up ‘SRESTHA’- A R&D Organization Bringing Most of IR Companies Under an Umbrella of a Holding Company.