Indian Railway Budget News

Railways Thursday proposed an increase in the quota of berths for senior citizens, pregnant and differently-abled persons in trains.

Each of the five BRICS member countries will have equal shareholding in the New Development Bank and US Dollar will be base currency for the lender, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today in Rajya Sabha.

Bharti Airtel has raised Rs 1,925 crore (approximately USD 310 million) by selling 55 million shares in its subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited in an equity market transaction, a company statement said here Thursday.

Suresh Prabhu's maiden Railway budget is high on vision and small announcements, but could push up cost of logistics that can hurt initiatives like the 'Make in India' campaign, analysts said today.

Terming the Rail Budget as "pragmatic", India Inc today welcomed the larger role envisaged for the private sector and said various measures proposed would bring in higher efficiency and improve ease of doing business.

Stocks of cement, fertiliser and steel companies suffered losses today following the proposal to hike rail freight by up to 10 percent amid concerns that the firms will not be able to fully pass on the higher rates.

An official of state-run miner Coal India said that the impact of freight rate hike would be on the landed cost of coal.

In 2014-15 (revised estimate), the revenue from movement of goods will rise to Rs 1,06,927 crore from Rs 93,095 crore in the previous year, according to the Rail Budget document.

He said the budget is a watershed moment for the railways, marking a paradigm shift from mere announcement of number of trains to a comprehensive railway reform.

Share prices of companies that cater to the railway sector plunged by up to 7 per cent today after the Rail Budget 2015-16 failed to boost investors' sentiment.

Manufacturing cost for cement is likely to go up by Rs 7-10 per bag of 50 kg due to the proposed freight hike on various inputs and the commodity, but domestic firms would prefer to wait for the main Budget to take a call on raising the price.

Railways' earning from passenger traffic is estimated to rise by nearly 17 per cent to Rs 50,175 crore in the next financial year as it expects more number of passengers to travel longer distance.

The Railway Budget today hiked freight rates on cement, coal, foodgrain and pulses, urea, kerosene and LPG by up to 10 per cent to mop up an additional Rs 4,000 crore a year but spared passengers from any raise in fares while ruling out privatisation.

There would be faster rail network growth in Jammu and Kashmir and connectivity provided to all the Northeastern states, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

Giving priority to women`s safety, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu Thursday announced the utilisation of resources from the Nirbhaya Fund by Indian Railways, adding that surveillance cameras would be provided in select coaches.

Terming the Railway budget as "realistic and pragmatic", Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today rejected opposition criticism that it lacked substance and said NDA government has taken on its shoulders all the responsibility of implementing unfulfilled promises of earlier regimes.

Prices of food grain, pulses, cement, coal and steel are likely to go up following the proposal to hike rail freight by up to 10 per cent for various commodities.

Unimpressed with the Railway budget presented in Parliament today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said it was full of "lofty ideas but without any action plan."