Speech
of Shri Nitish Kumar
Introducing
the Railway Budget, 2003-04
On
26th
February 2003.
Mr.
Speaker Sir,
1.
I rise to present the Budget
Estimates for 2003-2004 for the Indian Railways.
2. At the outset, I express my profound gratitude to Hon’ble Prime Minister for launching the National Rail Vikas Yojana, which involves the strengthening of the Golden Quadrilateral, augmenting rail connectivity to ports and also the construction of four mega bridges. This non-budgetary initiative is bound to accelerate the growth of the Indian Railways, which is the lifeline of the Nation.
Financial
Performance in 2001-2002
3. I will now give a brief review of the performance of the year 2001-2002. The year 2001-2002 ended with a freight loading of 492.5 million tonnes which was 3.50 million tonnes higher than the target of 489 million tonnes fixed in the Revised Estimates for the year. Freight earnings have consequently surpassed the revised target by Rs.235.40 cr. This improvement was attributable to better performance during the last quarter of the year as the economy started picking up. Passenger earnings, however, suffered a set back in the last quarter of the year due to various extraneous factors resulting in a shortfall in passenger earnings to the extent of Rs.204 cr. against the enhanced revised target of Rs.11400 cr. Taking into account the increase in Other Coaching and Sundry earnings and a lesser accretion to the Traffic Suspense as compared to the Revised estimate targets, the Gross Traffic Receipts for the year were Rs.118 cr higher than that envisaged in the Revised Estimates.
4. As a result of continued monitoring and control over expenditure, Railways were able to contain the Ordinary Working Expenses to Rs.28703 cr. resulting in a saving of Rs.397 cr as compared to the revised estimates. This, coupled with need-based appropriation to DRF and Pension Fund and also the variation in Net Miscellaneous receipts, resulted in an increase of Rs.197 cr. in Railways’ net revenue. The operating ratio for the year improved to 96.0 percent as against 96.6 percent envisaged in the Revised Estimates. After deferment of Rs.1000 cr., as was envisaged in the Budget, Railways were able to discharge the balance dividend liability of Rs.1337 cr, besides repaying the loan of Rs. 249 cr taken from the General Exchequer for Capital Fund.
5.
In
the Budget for 2002-03, the originating revenue earning freight traffic has been
estimated at 510 million tonnes. I am happy to inform the House that the
performance during the first 10 months of the current fiscal has exceeded the
proportionate target. Accordingly, the target for the originating revenue
earning freight traffic has been revised upwards to 515 million tonnes in the
Revised Estimates for the year. On
the other hand, in the Passenger segment there has been a drop of nearly
three percent in number
of passengers to end December 2002.
6. The goods earnings are likely to exceed the budget target of Rs. 26,118 cr by Rs. 540 cr., whereas passenger earnings are likely to fall short of the budget target of Rs. 13450 cr by Rs. 720 cr. Taken together, the other coaching and sundry earnings are likely to be Rs. 24 cr below the budget target. Due to continued increase in the amount owed to Railways by the users, particularly, Electricity Boards, the unrealized earnings are likely to increase by Rs. 417 crores as against a budgeted clearance of Rs.50 crores. Therefore, the budgeted Gross Traffic Receipts of Rs.41,538 cr have been reduced to Rs. 40,867 cr in the Revised Estimates.
7. With sustained monitoring and continued austerity, there is likely to be a reduction of Rs. 850 cr in the Ordinary Working Expenses. Accordingly, the Revised Estimates for these are placed at Rs.30,310 cr as against Rs. 31,160 in the Budget Estimates.
8. The operating ratio budgeted at 94.4 percent is likely to improve to 92.5 percent in the Revised Estimates.
9.
Besides discharging fully the dividend liability for the
year, an amount of Rs. 50 cr is also proposed to be cleared from the Deferred
Dividend Liability Account.
Customer Satisfaction
10.
Sir, we are celebrating the 150th year of
Indian Railways as 'Passenger Amenities Year'. Indian Railways will be completing 150
years of glorious service to the nation this year. On this occasion, Indian Railways
expresses gratitude to its customers whose continued support has enabled all
round development of this vast network.
Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, had a close association with
Railways. As stated by Bapu, the
customer is the most important visitor on our premises. Hence, it is our primary duty to ensure
the satisfaction of customers and for this reason I dedicate the year 2003-2004
to our customers and declare it as ‘Customer Satisfaction Year’. This year several steps relating to safety, security, punctuality and
cleanliness will be taken so that customers would derive greater satisfaction
from the Railways.
Safety
11. I am aware of the concern expressed both inside and outside Parliament on the vital issue of safety. In pursuance of the commitment made by me during the Winter Session of Parliament, a White Paper covering the entire spectrum of the issues involved in safety in train operations would be presented during the course of this session.
12.
One of the major contributing factors for accidents has
been found to be human failure. In this context, the filling up of vacancies in
safety categories in Group 'D' has assumed importance. It has been decided to fill up more than
20,000 such vacancies through Railway Recruitment Boards within the next one
year. Training plays an important role in increasing the efficiency of the
employees. Railways are determined to effect continuous improvement in Safety
related training and to enable this, the training facilities at all Zonal
Training Centres, seven Supervisory Training Centres and eight Central
Engineering Training Centres are being suitably upgraded. Modules on Disaster
Management are also being prepared. To this end, new works at a cost of Rs. 41
crores are proposed to be taken up.
Anti-
Collision Device (ACD):
13.
ACD
is an intelligent microprocessor based equipment developed indigenously to
prevent collisions. When installed on locomotives, brake vans and at stations
and level crossing gates, these ACDs network among themselves to prevent
accident like conditions involving collision of trains.
14.
Extended
field trials of this device on Jalandhar-Amritsar section of Northern Railway
have been successfully completed on19th January 2003. Now, deployment of this
device on Indian Railways has started.
Provision of ACDs on about 1800 route kms section and ACD survey on 1641
route Kms section are in progress.
During 2003-2004, to accelerate the pace of this work, it is proposed to
carry out ACD survey of 10,000 route kms. and provide ACD over additional 1750
route kms.
Continuous
Track Circuiting
15.
Continuous
track circuiting enables detection of discontinuities caused by rail/weld
fracture or acts of sabotage. This helps in taking timely precautionary measures
and prevents possible accidents. This will also improve the line capacity and
safety at level crossing gates. The work of track circuiting is being executed
within station limits. Work of
continuous track circuiting in block sections on selected sections of ‘A’ , ‘B’ and ‘C’ routes at a cost of Rs
425 crores is now being proposed in this Budget.
Bridges
16. For upgrading and modernizing the bridge inspection and management systems, action has been taken to initiate underwater inspections, computerized non-destructive testing with state of the art equipment and introduce a modern Bridge Management System.
Crash worthiness of
Coaches
17. To minimize injuries during rail travel, coaches are being redesigned without any sharp corners in the interior and duly padding up vulnerable areas. In order to prevent coaches from climbing over each other in the event of a collision, tight lock couplers are being introduced progressively. Concurrently, redesigning coach ends to take the full impact of the collision has been undertaken so that passenger areas remain free from damage due to collision or heavy impact.
Special Railway Safety
Fund - Financial & Physical
progress
18. During 2001-2002 the actual expenditure under SRSF stood at Rs. 1434 cr (Net) as against the allotment of Rs 1400 cr. The safety surcharge fell short of the targeted collection by Rs.95 cr. Thus, the additional amount of Rs.129 cr required on both these counts was made available through Railways’ normal revenues. In the current year, the total net allocation for SRSF was stepped up to Rs. 2210 cr as per the Budget Estimates, which included Rs. 1350 cr as contribution from General Exchequer and Rs 860 cr from the safety surcharge. This has been further increased by Rs.100 cr. in the Revised Estimates to keep up the pace of progress of safety works under SRSF. Railways are contributing this additional amount as well as the current year’s shortfall of about Rs.200 cr. in surcharge collection from its own revenues.
19. As regards the physical progress of the works, I would like to inform that track Renewal of around 5,400 km is also expected to be completed by the end of the current year. Rehabilitation of approximately 745 bridges is likely to be completed by the end of the current financial year. So far signalling equipment replacement works have been completed at 298 stations. Further, about 1350 track circuits have been provided till now.
20. Active consultations are on with the concerned Ministries to give a final shape to the proposal to amend the RPF Act and Railway Act in order to provide enhanced powers to the RPF .
21. To strengthen the Railway Protection Force and the Railway Protection Special Force, recruitment of over 3500 constables will be done through Railway Recruitment Board in the year 2003-2004.
Punctuality
22. For further improving the punctuality of passenger services, it is proposed to streamline and strengthen the monitoring mechanism so as to control the factors, barring force majeure, that affect punctuality. To this end, it is proposed to introduce a new computerized Coaching Operations Information System (COIS).
Operation
Cleanliness
23.
On the occasion of Independence Day, the Hon’ble Prime
Minister announced the launching of `Operation Cleanliness` to ensure
cleanliness in trains and on railway premises. A task force has been constituted
to frame an action plan for this. The responsibility of ensuring cleanliness in
Railways rests with many departments. To cleanse the cleaning operations in
Railways there is a need to establish a unified control. Apart from optimal utilisation of men
and material resources available with Railways, it will also be necessary to
induct costly equipment, in which the private sector will also be
associated.
Passenger
Amenities
24.
Encouraged
by the response to the pilot project of the Unreserved Ticketing System
in Delhi, it is proposed to implement this in other areas of Northern
Railway and on North Eastern, East Central, Eastern and Northeast Frontier
Railways.
25. To obtain a refund against a reserved ticket after the departure of a train is still a problem for the passengers. Hence, in addition to the existing facilities, it is proposed to permit refunds of the amount due from any PRS center, three hours after the train has reached its destination.
26. In case a confirmed or RAC ticket is lost by a passenger, a duplicate ticket can be issued, before preparation of Reservation Chart, on payment of 10 percent or 25 percent of full fare based on the distance of journey or type of train. As a customer friendly measure, it is proposed that charges for issuing such a duplicate ticket would be refundable at a PRS Centre at the destination on completion of the journey performed on such a ticket.
27.
Encouraged
by the utilization of the integrated warehousing facility at Whitefield terminal
at Bangalore, Railways intend to enter into an MOU with the Central Warehousing
Corporation as its strategic partner for development of similar integrated
rail-side warehouse complexes at 22 locations.
28.
Greater
flexibility has been given to the General Managers to improve the rail share of
freight, through delegated powers to offer concessions ranging from 10 percent to 24 percent on Station to Station
rates and also bringing the consignees as well as the consignors within the
scope of the scheme.
29.
Five
weekly Parcel Express trains are being run by railways, which include three
trains connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to Guwahati. One train each is
running from Delhi to Kolkata and to Bangalore. More such trains would be
introduced between Amritsar and Mumbai via Delhi; from Delhi to Guwahati routed
through Moradabad, Lucknow and Gorakhpur and between Mumbai and Kolkata.
30.
As
announced in last year’s Railway Budget, a prototype Refrigerated Van has been
developed by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. It is proposed to induct during
2003-2004 ten refrigerated vans in popular long distance passenger trains for
moving perishable commodities.
31.
Senior
Citizens of our country are being granted 30 percent concession in fares in all
classes and in all trains. This concession is available to men of the age of 65
years and above and women of age sixty and above. I am glad to announce that now
both men and women will be entitled for the Senior Citizen concession on
attaining the age of 60 years.
32.
Cancer
and “Thalassemia Major” patients and heart patients, travelling for the purpose
of heart surgery, alone or accompanied by an attendant, are presently entitled
to a concession of 75 percent in First Class and Second Class. It has been
decided to extend 75 percent concession in AC 3-Tier and AC Chair Car and grant
50 percent concession in AC
First Class and AC 2-Tier of Mail/Express trains. Kidney patients undertaking train
journey for the purpose of treatment would also be granted similar travel
concessions.
33.
Accredited
Press Correspondents are currently entitled to 50 percent concession for travel upto
30,000 kilometers per year, in all classes of Mail/Express trains, if they are
residing within 25 kilometers from the concerned capital city or district
headquarter. I am glad to propose that the limit on their concessional travel as
well as the distance restriction for their place of residence is removed.
Further, Accredited Press Correspondents would now be granted 30 percent
concession in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains also.
34.
The
communication system available on Rajdhani & Shatabdi Express trains for
making public announcements and playing music on running trains are being
extended to Jan Shatabdi Express trains also. It has now been decided to adopt a
policy of playing only instrumental music, appropriate to the season and the
time of the day, in all such trains.
Other
Initiatives
Joint Venture with
NTPC
35. As was reported last year, an MoU was signed by Ministry of Railways with NTPC for setting up of captive thermal power plants. I am happy to state that the project committee consisting of representatives from NTPC and Railways formed for the purpose has, after examining four different sites, recommended Nabinagar as a suitable site for a 1000 MW thermal plant, which has been accepted. It is now proposed to form a Joint Venture Company of Railways with NTPC for implementation of the scheme.
Bio
Diesel
36. The Railways are also exploring alternative fuel sources. A massive drive for planting Ratan Jyot plants on both sides of the Railway land has been embarked upon. Bio-diesel, which can be distilled from Ratan Jyot by a simple and inexpensive refining process, can be freely mixed with diesel oil used on our locomotives. This is an initiative that is not only environment friendly, but will also result in reducing our fuel bill.
37. An MoU has been signed on 12.2.2003 with Indian Oil Corporation for a pilot project in which they will grow Ratan Jyot plants on Railway land and sell the oil produced from them back to the Railways.
Formation of new zones and
divisions
38. Hon’ble Members are aware of the decision to operationalise seven new zones and eight new divisions. The North Western Railway and East Central Railway headquartered at Jaipur and Hajipur respectively have become operational w.e.f. 01.10.2002. The remaining five new zones viz., East Coast Railway at Bhubaneswer, North Central Railway at Allahabad, South East Central Railway at Bilaspur, West Central Railway at Jabalpur and South Western Railway at Hubli and eight new Divisions headquartered at Agra, Ahmedabad, Guntur, Nanded, Pune, Ranchi, Rangiya and Raipur shall be operationalised w.e.f. 01.4.2003. OSDs in the rank of General Managers and DRMs to head these new zones and divisions respectively are already in position. The feedback received indicates that the two new zones that were operationalised w.e.f. 01.10.2002, viz. North Western Railway and East Central Railway have been functioning with improved efficiency.
39.
To give a greater focus to the R&D activities, the
status of RDSO has been elevated to a ‘Zonal Railway’ from that of an ‘Attached
Office’ to the Railway Board with effect from 01.01.2003.
Reform Agenda
40. To transform the Indian Railways into customer-oriented organization, it is proposed to improve its accounting system. In this regard, it is planned to review the existing accounting policies and practices and to introduce fully computerized accounting and Management Information System so as to generate costing data on passenger and freight services on commercial lines.
41. Our Production Units have been catering mainly to the needs of Indian Railways. Having acquired the State of the Art technology, Railway Production Units can now become competitive and can make their presence felt in the global market provided they are given the requisite autonomy. In order to facilitate this, it is proposed to restructure the production units as independent cost and profit centers.
National
Rail Vikas Yojana
42. National Rail Vikas Yojana, announced on 15th August, 2002, at an estimated cost of Rs.15,000 crore, has been formally launched on 26th December, 2002 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. A company named “Rail Vikas Nigam Limited” has been incorporated under the Companies Act for implementation of these projects including raising of resources. Strengthening of the Golden Quadrilateral and its diagonals through identified sub-projects costing about Rs.8,000 crore will form the major part of this yojana. A part loan of US$ 313.6 million has been approved by ADB. It will be utilized, mainly, for execution of projects covered under the initiative of “strengthening of Golden Quadrilateral”. A dialogue with World Bank has been initiated to mobilize funds for “mega bridges” and other NRVY projects. Projects under the initiative “port connectivity” have been identified and resource mobilization for the same is proposed to be organized through various public-private partnership initiatives and budgetary support.
43.
Sir, as
committed in my last budget speech, work has already commenced on three mega
bridges i.e., Bogibeel bridge over river Brahmaputra, two bridges over river
Ganga, one at Patna and the other at Munger. I am happy to inform the House
that the requisite clearances for the mega bridge over river Kosi have been
obtained and the work has been included in the budget.
National and strategic
projects
44.
Hon’ble
Prime Minister, during his visit to Srinagar had announced that the first train
will roll into Kashmir Valley by 15th August 2007. I express my gratitude to the Hon'ble
Finance Minister, who has provided Rs. 500 cr for this National project in
2003-04, considering its importance. The work on Udhampur-Katra and
Quazigund-Baramulla sections is already in progress. The stretch between Katra –
Quazigund is very difficult requiring large scale tunneling and bridging works
for which detailed surveys on ground need to be carried out. Considering the
arduous nature of work, construction on this section has been entrusted to two
technically sound organizations, viz., IRCON and Konkan Railway Corporation
Limited while detailed survey has been entrusted to RITES. I am happy to inform
that long pending project of Jammu-Udhampur is progressing at a satisfactory
pace and is targeted for completion by March 2004. Further, rail link upto Katra is likely
to be completed during 2004-2005.
47.
Sir, I
am happy to state that Kumarghat-Manu of Kumarghat-Agartala new line has already
been completed and commissioned on 27.12.2002 for passenger services. The
restoration of Fatuha-Islampur has also been completed. It is hoped to complete
restoration of Duraundha-Maharajganj and new lines between Katra-Faizabad and
Joruli-Keonjhar during the year. Further, the work of Daulatpur-Malikpur and
Bajkul-Nachenda are also likely to be completed by March 2003. The balance
targeted portion of these lines i.e. from Malikpur to Balurghat and Nachenda to
Kanthi are expected to be completed by June 2003.
48.
In
2003-2004, Railways propose to complete 225 km of new lines including following
sections:
(i)
Panvel-Karjat
(ii) Sasaram-Nokha
of Ara-Sasaram
(iii)
Kakdweep-Namkhana
of Lakshmikantapur-Namkhana
(iv)
Bajalta-Udhampur
of Jammu-Udhampur
(v) Una-Churaru
Takrala of Nangaldam-Talwara
(vi)
Kakinada-Kotipalli
restoration
(vii)
Mahendralalnagar-Amta
of Howrah-Amta
(viii)
Hassan-Sharavanabelagola
of Hassan-Bangalore
(ix)
Tilaiya-Jagdishpur
of Rajgir-Tilaiya
49.
During
the year, the gauge conversion of
Vadalur-Vriddhachalam, Dharmabad-Nizamabad and Jankampet-Bodhan has
already been completed. I am happy to state that against the original target of
791 km of gauge conversion set for the current year, nearly 900 km of gauge
conversion is likely to be achieved. This includes Latur-Latur Road new line
portion of Miraj-Latur, Mangalore-Kabakaputtur, Virudunagar-Rajapalaiyam,
Katpadi-Pakala-Tirupati,
Surendernagar-Pipavav, Rajkot-Junagarh and Samdari-Jasai where the works
of mega block are already in progress.
50.
During
the year 2003-2004, a target of over 775 km of gauge conversion has been
proposed which include the following sections:
(i)
New
Jalpaiguri / Siliguri-Samuktala of New Jalpaiguri-New
Bongaigaon
(ii)
Bandikui-Bharatpur
of Bandikui -Agra
(iii)
Jasai-Munabao
of Luni-Munabao
(iv)
Kabakaputtur-Subrahmanya
Road of Hassan-Mangalore
(v)
Villupuram-Pondicherry
(vi)
Rajapalaiyam-Tenkasi
of Quilon-Tiruchendur and Virudunagar-Tenkasi
(vii)
Vadalur-Cuddalore
of Salem-Cuddalore
(viii)
Thanjavur-Kumbakonam
of Thanjavur-Villupuram
(ix)
Gondia-Balaghat
of Jabalpur-Gondia
(x)
Junagarh-Veraval
with extension to Somnath of Rajkot-Veraval
(xi)
Dhola-Bhavnagar
51.
Further,
I am happy to announce that the works of Bhind-Etawah new line as part of
Guna-Etawah and Mansi-Saharsa gauge conversion are in good progress and likely
to be completed during the year 2004.
52.
During
the current year about 200 km of doublings are likely to be completed, while in
the next financial year a target of 340 km has been proposed.
53.
Hon’ble
Members will be happy to know that doublings of Pakni-Mohol, Mansi-Maheshkhunt,
Rohtak-Jakhal, Hapur-Kankather, Sahibabad-Anand Vihar 3rd and
4th line, Ambaturai-Kodaikkanal, Chennai Beach-Korukkupet, Kataiya
Dandi-Lohgara, Shujalpur-Akodia, Barauni-Tilrath, Barharwa-Tinpahar,
Kayankulam-Cheppad and Kayankulam-Mavelikara, Jahanabad-Bela and
Chandpara-Bangaon have been included in the budget. Further, doubling of
Raichur-Guntakal, Cuttack-Barang, Khurda-Barang 3rd line and
Aligarh-Ghaziabad 3rd line have also been included to strengthen
Golden Quadrilateral. The
completion of these works is expected to ease the traffic flow and create
additional capacity on some of the saturated sections.
Mega
Terminals
54.
While
there have been persistent demands for introducing new trains from the Metros,
terminal constraints are a major bottleneck. To overcome this, proposals for
development of additional terminals at Chitpur, Kolkata and Anand Vihar, Delhi
have been included in this Budget.
Suburban
Transport Projects
55.
I am
happy to state that necessary approvals for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project –
Phase-I have been obtained. The
project envisages upgradation of the rail infrastructure in the city of Mumbai
and will go a long way in reducing the overcrowding of commuters in the Mumbai
Suburban Rail System. The project involves a loan component of Rs.1613 crores,
which has been sanctioned by the World Bank. The work is expected to be
completed in 5 years.
56.
I am
glad to inform the House that the work on the balance portion of 5th line from
Andheri to Borivali has been completed. The work of automatic block signalling
from Virar to Dahanu Road has also been completed, enhancing the line capacity
of the section.
57.
EMU
services on Barasat-Hasnabad have been commissioned on 22.12.2002. The extension
of Kolkata Metro from Tollyganj to Garia is progressing satisfactorily.
Extension of Circular Railway from Princepghat to Majerhat and its connection to
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport is likely to be completed by December 2004.
58.
I am
happy to state that gauge conversion of Chennai Beach to Egmore has been
commissioned recently. The section from Tambaram to Chengalpattu is likely to be completed by March-2004.
59.
Hon’ble
Members would be pleased to know that considering the public need, it has been
decided to provide a direct link between Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore.
This link would benefit commuters as well as long distance passengers and would
relieve them of the irksome transhipment between the two stations. As regards
MRTS, the work of Tirumailai to Vellachery is expected to be completed by June
2003.
60.
The
multi-modal transportation system for the twin cities of Hyderabad and
Secunderabad, is making satisfactory progress and upgradation of railway
infrastructure in Hyderabad-Secunderabad-Falaknuma section and
Hyderabad-Lingampalli sections is likely to be completed by March 2003.
61.
There
have been demands of beautification of the stations on circular railway at
Kolkata in order to improve overall ambience along the bank of river
Hoogly. I am happy to inform that
it is proposed to give face-lift to the stations along with plantation and
ornamental fencing in between the stations so as to bring about overall
improvement in the surroundings.
Railway
Electrification
62. Railway Electrification works have progressed satisfactorily during the year and 208 route kms. have been energized up to January, 2003. It is proposed to electrify a total of 375 route kms. during the current year. By the end of March 2003, 16376 route kms (25.98 percent) on Indian Railways will be electrified.
Railway Recruitment
Board
63. Presently, for the written test (objective type) for Group ‘D’ recruitments by RRBs, there is provision for setting of the question papers in Hindi and English only. Since recruitment in Group ‘D’ in Railways is Division-wise, it has been decided that henceforth, the question paper will also be set in the local language, listed in the VIII schedule of the Constitution, prevalent in the concerned division. This will provide opportunity for seeking Group ‘D’ employment in Railways to those who know only such local language.
Public Sector
Undertakings
64. Hon’ble Members will be happy to know that the performance of the Public Sector Undertakings has been satisfactory during the year 2001-2002. During 2001-2002, IRCON International Ltd. had registered a turnover of Rs. 907 cr and earned a net profit of Rs. 104 cr. The company has paid a dividend of Rs. 17.3 cr. The company bagged export awards from Overseas Construction Council of India for maximum turnover in foreign exchange in overseas construction contracts. RITES Limited achieved its highest ever turnover of Rs. 283 cr during the year 2001-2002, recording a net profit of Rs. 39 cr and paid a dividend of Rs. 3.75 cr. The Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) registered a turnover of Rs. 1286 cr., earning a net profit of Rs. 249.85 cr. It has paid a dividend of Rs. 41 cr. During 2001-2002, IRFC achieved a net profit of Rs. 292 cr and paid a dividend of Rs. 100 cr.
Konkan Railway
Corporation
65. Konkan Railway Corporation witnessed a modest growth in its operation and has been able to generate sufficient revenues to cover its working expenses. However, the Corporation still needs considerable financial assistance for its debt redemption and interest liabilities incurred by it during construction phase. As it is a vital rail link for millions of passengers and for freight in the region, Ministry of Railways reiterates its support to the Corporation in meeting its debt servicing obligations.
Indian Railway Catering
& Tourism Corporation
66.
IRCTC
has paid Rs. 20 lakh to the Ministry of Railways as first dividend for the
financial year 2001-2002. For the year 2002-2003, the first full year of its
operation, IRCTC is likely to pay Indian Railways nearly Rs. 3.5 crore covering
concession and license fees and other charges.
RailTel
Corporation of India
67.
During
the current year RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. has earned Rs.5.22 cr by
leasing of bandwidth and other telecom infrastructure. The company is expected
to earn Rs.12.5 cr during the current year.
68.
Phase-I
and Phase-II network of RailTel are targeted to be completed in the year
2003-2004 and 150 important cities and 1500 stations are expected to be
connected on Optical Fibre Network.
69.
RailTel
plans to provide Internet kiosks at New Delhi Railway Station as a pilot project
and is also planning to provide Internet service on one of the selected trains
as a pilot project during the next financial year.
Personnel
Relations
70.
Personnel
relations over Indian Railways remained peaceful and cordial during the year.
The grievance redressal machinery under PNM and JCM schemes functioned
satisfactorily at all levels. I am
grateful to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Deputy Prime Minister and
Hon’ble Finance Minister for resolving two long pending problems relating to two
different categories of railway men.
Decisions to improve the pay scales of Railway Promotee Officers and to
set right the anomaly arising out of the recommendations of the Fifth Central
Pay Commission in respect of the organized Accounts Cadre of the Railways have
been taken. Both these decisions
will go a long way in boosting the morale of the
organization.
Sports
71. The performance of Indian Railways in the field of sports during the current year has been outstanding both at National and International levels.
72. Sportspersons from Railways won four Gold, five Silver and four Bronze Medals in the Commonwealth Games and thirteen medals (6 Gold, 5 Silver, and 2 Bronze) out of a total of 35 medals won by the country in the Asian Games. I would like to make a special mention of Smt. Neelam J.Singh, who won a Gold medal in Discus Throw in the Busan Asian Games by breaking a twelve year old record. The performance of Ms K.M.Beenamol who won 2 Gold and 1 Silver Medal in athletics is also commendable.
73. Sir, I would now like to mention about introduction of new trains, increase in frequency of trains and extension of services. Following additional Express trains are proposed to be introduced in the year 2003-2004 :-
(i)
Sealdah-Asansol
via Barddhaman (Daily)
(ii)
Jabalpur-Kota
via Bina (Daily)
(iii)
Surat-Mumbai
(Bandra) (Daily)
(iv)
Azamgarh-Delhi
via Lucknow (Daily)
(v)
Secunderabad-Sirpurkagaznagar
via Kazipet (Daily)
(vi)
Sambalpur-Raipur
via Titlagarh (Daily)
(vii)
Tinsukia-Mariani
(Daily)
(viii)
Chennai
Egmore-Erode via Tiruchchirappalli (Daily)
(ix)
Jaipur-Udaipur
via Ajmer & Chittaurgarh (Daily) (MG)
(x)
Ballia-Sealdah
via Barauni (Daily)
(xi)
Gaya-New
Delhi via Allahabad (Daily)
(xii)
Vijayawada
-Secunderabad (Daily)
(xiii)
Lucknow-Agra
Cantt (Daily).
(xiv)
Rewa-
New Delhi via Allahabad (Daily)
(xv)
Chirimiri-Rewa
via Katni (Daily)
(xvi)
Salem-Bangalore
(Yeshwantpur) (Daily)
(xvii) Jaynagar-Narkatiaganj
(Daily) (MG)
(xviii) New
Alipurduar-Siliguri (Daily) after Gauge conversion
(xix)
New
Alipurduar-New Jalpaiguri (Daily) after Gauge conversion
(xx)
New
Jalpaiguri-Siliguri (Daily) after Gauge conversion.
(xxi)
Bhavnagar-Ahmedabad
(Daily) after Gauge conversion
(xxii)
Bhavnagar-Mumbai
(Bandra) (Daily) after Gauge Conversion
(xxiii) Lucknow
- Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) via Jhansi (Tri-weekly)
(xxiv) Jabalpur-Nagpur
via Itarsi (Tri-weekly)
(xxv)
Ajmer-Mumbai
Central (Tri-weekly)
(xxvi) Allahabad
– Haridwar via Pratapgarh & Lucknow (Tri-weekly)
(xxvii)Bangalore
(Yeshwantpur)-Nizamuddin via Secunderabad (Tri-Weekly)
(xxviii)
Varanasi
- Howrah via Mughalsarai & Patna (Tri-weekly)
(xxix) Pune-Nagpur
via Manmad (Bi weekly)
(xxx)
Tatanagar-Amritsar
via Mughalsarai & Lucknow (Bi-weekly)
(xxxi) Durg-Gorakhpur
via Bilaspur, Katni & Allahabad (Bi-weekly)
(xxxii)Bangalore-Mumbai
(Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) via Hubli & Pune (Bi-weekly)
(xxxiii)
Chennai-Dehradun
and Chandigarh via New Delhi & Saharanpur (Weekly)
(xxxiv)
Bikaner-Secunderabad
via Kazipet (Weekly)
(xxxv)
Puri -
Guwahati via Asansol (Weekly)
(xxxvi)
Ranchi
(Hatia) –Bangalore (Yeshwantpur) via Jharsuguda & Visakhapatnam
(Weekly)