Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has given a no-tariff hike budget without compromising on the capital expenditure for increasing carrying capacity, both passengers and freight even in a challenging economic environment marked by a severe slowdown in the commodity sectors, which are lifeline of the Railways’ earnings, ASSOCHAM President Sunil Kanoria said.
Though there have been slippages in the revenue target in the current fiscal, it has got more to do with the overall economic slowdown, more so in sectors like coal, steel, iron ore etc which have been worst hit but have been the major revenue sources for the Railways, he said.
If every other sector of the economy and every other company is reporting tepid growth in earnings, the Railways cannot be expected to be an exception.
In view of the continuing challenges, the 10 per cent growth projections on revenue targets of Rs1,84,820 crore is realistic, although he is banking on revival of growth in the key sectors.