CENTRE TO SPEND `1.61 L-CR ON RAILWAYS

With the aim to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, FM plans Krishi Rail

New Delhi, Feb. 1: The railways got a budgetary allocation of `70,000 crore and an outlay for capital expenditure amounting to `1.61 lakh crore, a paltry 3 per cent more than the previous year, from Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget for 2020-21.

In 2019-2020, the capital expenditure (RE) was `1.56 lakh crore, which was 17.2 per cent more than the capex of 2018-2019.

The total receipts of the railways comprising earnings from passenger, goods, sundry other heads and railway recruitment boards are targeted to increase by 9.5 per cent in the Budget Estimates (BE) of 2020-21 over the Revised Estimates (RE) of 2019-20.

In the 2020-21 budget, funds of `12,000 crore have been allocated for construction of new lines, `2,250 crore for gauge conversion, `700 crore for doubling, `5,786.97 crore for rolling stock and `1,650 crore for signalling and

telecom. The allocation for rail passenger comfort this fiscal is `2,725.63 crore. The budget also proposed freight loading at 1,265 MT,

which is 42 MT (3.4 per cent) incremental over RE 2019-20. Revenue receipts amounting to `61,000 crore through passenger earnings

and `1,47,000 crore in goods earnings have been envisaged in the coming financial year.

The gross traffic receipts

are thus kept at `2,25,613 crore. This is 9.6 per cent above RE 2019-20. The operating ratio, which was envisaged to be 95 per cent in BE 2019-20 and revised to 97.46 per cent in RE 2019-2020, now stands at 96.2 per cent in BE 2020-21.

The budget also proposed setting up of a large solar power capacity alongside the rail tracks on land owned by the railways. Redevelopment of four stations and operation of 150 passenger trains would be done through the publicprivate-partnership mode. It also announced introduction of more Tejas type trains which will connect iconic tourist destinations.

She proposed a 148-kmlong Bengaluru suburban transport project at a cost of `18,600 crore, which would have fares on the metro model. The Centre would provide 20 per cent of equity and facilitate external assistance of up to 60 per cent of the project cost. With an aim to build a seamless national cold supply chain for “perishables”, Sitharaman also proposed setting up of a “Krishi Rail” through PPP arrangements.