Prabhu proposes Rs.121,000 crore in projects for next fiscal

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday proposed a capital expenditure plan outlay of Rs.121,000 crore for the Indian Railways in the fiscal 2016-17.

Presenting the Rail Budget 2016 to parliament, Prabhu said its focus is to improve revenues and ensure appropriate investments which can continue the planned decongestion and line-capacity enhancement he had outlined in last year's budget.

"The focus is on enhanced capex with a mix of various sources of funding in order to ensure that the projects are given assured funding," he said.

The minister said the total revenue receipts for next year have been pegged at Rs.1,840,820 crore, with passenger earnings estimated to grow at 12.4 percent and freight traffic to increase by 50 million tonnes "anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of economy".

Towards ordinary working expenses of the railways in 2016-17, the minister proposed an amount of Rs.123,560 crore.

"Taking note of likely impact of 7th Central Pay Commission, the pension outgo has been budgeted at Rs.45,500 crore in 2016-17," Prabhu said.