Passenger earnings to fall short by Rs 4,250 cr for railways

New Delhi: A Parliamentary committee has expressed apprehension over a possible shortfall of Rs 4,250 crore from passenger earnings due to Railways’ decision to roll back fare hikes.

Besides, the panel has also observed decline in earnings as against revised estimates in the budget in the last four years from 2007 to 2011.

In its latest report, the Standing Committee on Railways has observed that the then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi proposed hike in passenger fares across the board in order to raise financial resources of railways.

New Railway Minister Mukul Roy, however, had announced a roll back of the fare revision in all classes except the premium ones.

The panel headed by DMK MP T R Baalu is of the view that passenger earnings are likely to fall short by about Rs 4,250 crore as the fare hike is now effective only in higher classes.

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Though the Committee is quite apprehensive of the earnings of the required level, they have earnestly desired that the Ministry should explore all ways and means to make good the shortfall of Rs 4,250 crore due to roll back in passenger fares.

It has observed that internal resources are much needed not only for improving passenger amenities but also for safety and development.

The 32-member committee has suggested that in order to bridge this shortfall, the Ministry would now have to put more thrust on PPP model, try to pick up more resources through Indian Railway Finance Corporation and control expenditure.

Further, it has suggested every effort should be made to meet the demands on the traveller side in order to increase passenger earnings.

The Committee has noted that during 2007 to 2011, the total receipts of Railways have shown a decline in the actuals as against the revised estimates.

According to the report, the total receipts have been revised downward from Rs 109,393.13 crore to Rs 106,646.78 crore in 2010-11.

On expenditure side, the panel observed that there had been a constant increase in expenditure during these years.

The Committee has further noted that ambitious target of net revenue of Rs 22,233.07 crore at budget estimate has been fixed during 2012-13 which is more than 200 percent over the net revenue of Rs 7,144.39 crore during 2011-12.

In the background of earnings and expenditure trend in Railways, the panel have urged the Ministry to play a more active role in achieving the targets in respect of revenue receipts and expenditure so as to achieve optimally the target fixed for net revenue during 2012-13.

The Committee also found grossly inadequate allocation of funds worth Rs 60,100 crore during 2012-13 for various rail projects when it is compared with the overall size of the 12th Five-year Plan of Rs 7.35 lakh crore.

PTI