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Railways Minister SpeechSir, when I sat down to compile budget estimates for 2001-02, I was certain that there will be some growth in the Budgetary Support from the General Exchequer. I was also hopeful that to tide over the safety related requirements, a separate grant would be available. However, none of these materialised. But, Sir, I am happy to announce that even with all these constraints, we have been able to keep the Plan outlay for 2001-02 at Rs. 11,090 cr, which is 11% higher than the revised estimates of the current year. Capital support from the General Exchequer continues to be Rs. 3,540 cr, as in the current year. It is proposed to go in for market borrowings to the extent of Rs. 4,000 cr. The balance of Rs. 3,550 cr is being met through a combination of conventional sources and non-traditional sources of revenue. We are also relying on clearance of a portion of the Railways' dues from powerhouses. Traffic outstandings, a large part of which is powerhouse dues have touched a new height of Rs. 3,027 cr as on 31st December, 2000. The target set for clearance in the coming year is Rs 750 cr. As part of this, we expect that outstanding dues of at least Rs. 500 cr from Badarpur Thermal Power Station would be realised by us in the next year, as promised by the then Power Minister last year.
Sir, in the current year, we had received a budgetary support of Rs. 3,540 cr which was about Rs. 1,000 cr higher than the year 1999-2000. Simultaneously, Government had also agreed for a dividend deferment of Rs. 1,500 cr, so that our net payout of dividend was reduced to only Rs. 615 cr. Next year, Sir, there has been no growth of Budgetary Support while the Railways will also have to pay Rs 1,352 cr to the General Exchequer by way of dividend, as the dividend deferral permitted is reduced to Rs 1,000 cr only.
Sir, while safety continues to be our core focus in Annual Plan 2001-02, I have also decided to give major thrust to completion of new line projects which are pending for long time. Safety is being further strengthened with the allocation for Track Renewals being enhanced from Rs. 1,633 cr in the Revised Estimates to Rs. 2,050 cr, marking an increase of 26%. In our continuing drive to improve user services, allocation for Passenger Amenities is going up to Rs. 200 cr marking an increase of 39% over the Revised Estimates for the current year.
Austerity is a major area engaging my concern. It would be recollected that in the previous year, austerity and economy drive had resulted in net saving of Rs. 850 cr. This year again, the target for savings through economy and austerity measures has been set at Rs.865 cr. I would like to assure the House that in the next year also, austerity and economy will receive high priority.
New Trains
Sir, throughout the year, I have been receiving volumes of requests from the people at large and also from Hon'ble Members of Parliament who represent them, on starting new trains and increasing frequencies, extensions etc. Sir, you will surely agree that it is very difficult to satisfy everybody. But I do appreciate that in view of our increasing population, these are genuine requirements and hence the expectations. After taking into account the demand, availability of infrastructure, availability of adequate maintenance to ensure safety, impact on freight traffic etc., I am happy to introduce the following new services :-
- New Delhi-Raipur-Bilaspur weekly Rajdhani Express
- New Delhi-Ranchi-Hatia weekly Rajdhani Express
- Bi-weekly express between Gorakhpur and New Delhi.
- Bangalore-Vasco Bi-weekly express.
- Pune-Ernakulam weekly express via Londa and Madgaon.
- Asansol-New Jalpaiguri weekly Express.
- Secunderabad-Dharmavaram Express.
- Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Bi-weekly Express.
- Jaipur-Ernakulam Weekly Superfast Express.
- DDhanbad-Hatia Intercity Express.
- Howrah-Yashwantpur (Bangalore) Bi-weekly Express.
- Indore-Gandhinagar (Ahmedabad) Express.
- Howrah-Trivandrum-Nagercoil Weekly express.
- Kurla-Bhubaneshwar (Via Sambhalpur) Weekly Express.
- Valsad-Patna Weekly Express serving Surat area.
- Haldia-Asansol Express
- Jodhpur-Chennai Weekly Express.
- Solapur-Pune Intercity Express.
- Jodhpur-Hardwar Link Express
- Palghat-Trivandrum Express.
- Bhubaneshwar-Palasa Intercity Service
- Asansol-Jhajha-Amritsar weekly Express
- Weekly Rajdhani Express to Secunderabad upon completion of New Terminal Works at Hazrat Nizamuddin.
- Rampurhat-Howrah Intercity Express.
I have been receiving a large number of appeals from the people from different parts of the country requesting for augmenting services available to second class travelling passengers on long distance routes. Keeping these in view, I am happy to announce that from the next year, I propose to introduce "Matribhumi" Express trains to be run during peak rush season with only second class and second class sleeper coaches, on the following routes :-
- Delhi-Jammu
- Howrah-Delhi
- Howrah-Dehradun
- Delhi-Barauni via Lucknow
- Hyderabad-Bangaore
- Mumbai-Gorakhpur
- Mumbai-Varanasi
This will be my humble effort to help reduce the difficulties faced by common passengers on long distance routes. Depending on the utilisation of these services, their continuity will also be considered.
Increase in Frequency
- Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days a week.
- Gorakhpur-Dehradun Express from 2 days to 3 days a week.
- Rajkot-Ernakulam Express from one to 2 days and extension upto Okha.
- Jabalpur-Rajkot Express from 2 days to 4 days by extending Rajkot-Bhopal Express to Jabalpur on 2 days.
- Sealdah-Darbhanga Ganga Sagar Express from 4 days to daily.
- Vishakhapatnam-Bilaspur Express from 4 days to daily and extension upto Korba.
- Secunderabad-Rajkot Express from weekly to 2 days.
- Nizamuddin-Bilaspur Gondwana Express from 3 days to 5 days by extending Nizamuddin Nagpur Express to Bilaspur.
- Indore-Jaipur Express from weekly to 2 days.
- Surat-Patna Bi-weekly Express from Patna upto Bhagalpur.
- Pune-Varanasi Express to Darbhanga on 1 day.
- New Delhi Guwahati Rajdhani Bi-weekly express to Dibrugarh Town from one day to two days.
- Chennai-Guwahati Bi-Weekly Express to Dibrugarh Town on one day.
- Jodhpur-Jaipur Intercity Express to Sawai Madhopur
- Guwahati-Lumding Express to Dimapur.
- Kacheguda-Palasa Express to Bhubaneshwar.
- Jodhpur-Jammu Tawi Express to Ahmedabad.
- Howrah - Gorakhpur weekly Express via Barauni, Ballia and Indara to provide a direct service between Ballia and Howrah.
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Rail Budget Speech Part II
