ORAI

                                                                 SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY

                                      Press Release No. 371  Dt. 01.02.2020

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS: THRUST AREAS OF THE

 BUDGET 2020-21

·PM had highlighted that Rs 100 lakh crore would be invested o­n infrastructure over the next 5 years.  National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) has been launched o­n 31^stDecember 2019 of Rs 103 lakh crore. It consists of more than 6500 projects across sectors. For Railway sector NIP will include modern railway stations, metro and railway transportation, logistics and warehousing etc. (Para 49).  

·Five measures relating to Railways have been highlighted in Budget speech (Para 54):

I.Setting up a large solar power capacity alongside the rail tracks, o­n the land owned by the railways. A proposal is under consideration.

II.Four station re-development projects and operation of 150 passenger trains would be done through PPP mode. The process of inviting private participation is underway.

III.More Tejas type trains will connect iconic tourist destinations.

IV.High speed train between Mumbai to Ahmedabad would be actively pursued.

V.148 km long Bengaluru Suburban transport project at a cost of Rs 18600 crore, would have fares o­n metro model. Central Government would provide 20% of equity and facilitate external assistance up to 60% of the project cost.

The aim of Government is to make Indian Railways the growth engine of the economy. To this end, Government has increased investment and introduced modern technology while focusing o­n safety, speed and service to passengers

·Continued emphasis o­n capacity enhancement through accelerated investments and execution

oCapex for the year 2019-20 is Rs 1,56,352 crore (RE), which is 17.2% higher than the previous year.

oCapex for 2020-21 has been pegged at an all time high of Rs 1,61,042 crore.

oElectrification of the entire BG network by 2023-24.

oThe target of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling/tripling etc. for 2020-21 is 3750 Route Kms against 3150 Route Kms in 2019-20.

oAdvanced Signalling System: Railways now plan to induct latest technology for Signalling& Telecommunication system. Under modernization plan of Railway signaling system, it has been decided to implement Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system o­n IR. This will increase operational efficiency. In first phase CTC will be implemented o­n 1830 KMs over 8 Zonal Railways o­n sections provided with Automatic Block Signalling system. Further, in the second phase, CTC will be implemented over balance 8 zonal Railways alongwith Automatic Block Signalling system.

oGovernment has initiated the upgradation of the decades old signalling system into an Automatic Train Protection Systems, which will be a mix of proven international technology as well as indigenously developed systems with an impetus to Make in India.

·Facilitating private participation in Railways to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat and fish, the Indian Railways will set up a “Kisan Rail” – through PPP arrangements. There shall be refrigerated coaches in Express and Freight trains as well (Para 23 (7)).

·Continued focus o­n Safety.

•2019-20 has been o­ne of the safest year in the history of Indian Railways. Consequential train accidents have reduced from 118 in 2013-14 to 51 in 2019-20 (upto December 2019). No passenger fatality has occurred in Consequential train accidents till 31/12/2019.

•Unmanned level crossings o­n Broad Guage network has been eliminated.

•Project for elimination of manned Level crossing has been undertaken.

·Enhancing passenger experience through digital technologies.

oRailways have provided free and fast wi-fi at over 5,500 railway stations benefitting the common public.

oThe Automatic updation of Train Timings through Real Time Train Information System (RTIS) in collaboration with ISRO and Data Loggers machines is improving punctuality and giving an accurate estimate of train arrival and departure to the passenger.

oArtificial intelligence based system is being used to help predict the possibility of a ticket confirmation.

oTransparency and accountability in food quality is being initiated through the commencement of CCTV based live streaming of food kitchens and food packets with QR codes linked to the kitchen where they have been prepared.

oDigital payments is getting a boost through the provision of handheld devices and POS machines.

oThe indigenous “Make in India”, Vande Bharat express has been successfully inducted o­n two routes, and further induction of 44 new Vande Bharat sets has been initiated.

HIGHLIGHTS RE 2019-20

Traffic throughput:

·Freight loading target kept at 1223 MT.

·Average freight lead kept at 556 km.

·Originating passengers increased to 8611 million from BE level of 8593.79 million.

Revenue receipts:

·Passenger earnings retained at the BE level of Rs. 56,000 cr.

·Goods earnings kept atRs. 1,34,733 cr.

·Other Coaching earnings and Sundry other earnings kept at Rs. 6,000 cr and Rs. 9,000 cr respectively.

·Gross Traffic Receipts thus kept at Rs. 2,05,833 cr.

·Miscellaneous receipts kept at Rs. 436 cr.

·Total receipts of IR thus kept at Rs. 2,06,269 cr.

Revenue expenditure:

·Ordinary Working Expenses (OWE) reduced to Rs. 1,51,208 cr from Rs. 1,55,000 cr in BE targeting a savings of Rs. 3,792 cr under fuel expenditure and imposition of austerity and economy measures.

·Appropriation to Pension Fund from Revenue kept at 48,350 cr.

·Total revenue expenditure of IR kept at Rs. 2,02,458 cr against the BE provision of Rs. 2,07,900 cr with a savings target of Rs. 5,442 cr.

Operating Ratio:

·The ‘Net’ of revenue over expenditure comes to Rs. 3,811 cr which has been appropriated to Development Fund (DF) (Rs. 1,311 cr) and Rashtriya Rail SanrakshaKosh(RRSK) (Rs. 2,500 cr) for supplementing IR’s capital expenditure.

·Operating Ratio comes to 97.46% against 95% envisaged in BE

Capital Expenditure:

·Capital Expenditure kept at Rs. 1,56,351.97 cr which is Rs. 22,975.31 cr (17.2%) more than capex of 2018-19.

·Gross Budgetary Support (excluding Nirbhaya Fund) at Rs. 67,837 cr includes Rs. 5,000 cr towards RRSK and Rs. 17,250 cr as IR’s share from Central Road & Infrastructure Fund (CRIF).

·Nirbhaya Fund at Rs. 267.64 cr.

·Internal Resources at Rs. 5,000 cr (DRF-Rs. 1000 cr, DF-Rs. 1,500 cr and RRSK-Rs. 2,500 cr).

·EBR-IRFC at Rs. 34,031 cr.

·EBR-IF at Rs. 31,440 cr.

·EBR-PPP at Rs. 17,776.33 cr.

(The total capital expenditure of Rs. 1, 56,352 cr in RE includes Rs. 17,500 cr from RRSK being met from (i) Rs. 5,000 cr received through GBS, (ii) Rs. 10,000 cr from IR’s share from CRIF, (iii) Rs. 2,500 cr contributed from IR’s internal resources).