Cut in plan outlay

Railways cuts plan outlay by Rs 4,000 crore for 2012-13

By Mahendra Kumar Singh, TNN | Dec 14, 2012, 03.20 AM IST

In its budget for 2012-13, Railways had proposed its highest ever plan outlay of Rs 60,100 crore. It was planning to generate Rs 18,050 crore through internal resources.

NEW DELHI: Cash-strapped Railways has scaled down its plan outlay by around Rs 4,000 crore for the current fiscal, following failure to raise the funds internally. In its budget for 2012-13, Railways had proposed its highest ever plan outlay of Rs 60,100 crore. It was planning to generate Rs 18,050 crore through internal resources.

"In view of the shortfall in generation of targeted internal resources, the plan outlay for the current year has been reassessed downward from Rs 60,100 to Rs 55,881 crore," said minister of state for railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The cutting down in total plan outlay due to shortfall in revenues through internal means is set to adversely affect spending on Railways' modernization and safety programmes.

Though Railways has tried to put up a brave front and claimed that the available resources have been judiciously allocated as per requirement of priority projects, it has been pleading with the finance ministry and the Planning Commission for hike in additional Budgetary support to fund its pending projects and safety measures. But, the finance ministry has been pressing Railways to increase its resources through internal means or encourage private investment.

Railways is losing around Rs 24,000 crore every year in cross-subsidizing passenger travel by freezing fare hike under popular pressure since last 10 years. The freight loading target has also been revised downwards. Railway minister Pawan Bansal is aware of the tough job at hand: To pull the national transporter out of financial mess and carry on with the reformist agenda.

Bansal had admitted in Parliament about the transporter's failure to manage finances for completing its long list of pending projects. Railways needs Rs 147,187 crore for completing 347 pending projects related only to laying of new tracks, gauge conversion and doubling of rail lines, but could manage only Rs 5,000 crore annually for implementing all its projects. The transporter is pinning hope on timely completion of UPA's ambitious dedicated freight corridor (DMRC), which has tied up its funding from multilateral agencies. The completion of DMRC will increase freight revenue as well as decongest tracks for passenger traffic.

After getting the Union Cabinet's approval for its public-private partnership (PPP) models, railways is also expecting to encourage private investment. Private players have been demanding a clear policy framework for promoting private sector investment and foreign direct investment. Railway modernization requires an investment of around Rs 8.4 trillion in the next five years, of which Rs 2.30 trillion are likely to be raised through PPP ventures.