core sector communique

Gross Earnings of Railways in Fy 11 to Touch Rs. 94,742 Crore Total Working Expenses Estimated at Rs. 87,200 Crore

The Railways have fixed their Total Gross Earnings for 2010-11 at Rs. 94,742 crore, which is Rs. 177 crore higher than the budget. Stating this in her speech while presenting the Railway Budget for 2011-12, the Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee, informed the Lok Sabha that with the reduced traffic suspense clearance of Rs. 98 crore, Gross Traffic Receipts is higher than the budget target by Rs. 75 crore at Rs. 94,840 crore. She said that the testing times for the railways have continued during 2010-11 also due to the impact of allowances and several post-budgetary factors. The Minister of Railways said that disruption of train movements has resulted in a loss of about Rs. 1,500 crore during the year and another Rs. 2,000 crore due to the ban on export of iron ore. As a result the loading target had to be reduced by 20 million tones to 924 million tones during 2010-11. However, in the revised estimates, goods earnings have been retained at the budget level based on trends of higher yield per NTKM.

The Minister of Railways said that Ordinary Working Expenses for the Railways has now been fixed at Rs. 67,000 crore, which is an increase of Rs. 2,000 crore over Budget Estimate. After providing for Rs. 5,700 crore and Rs. 14,500 crore towards Depreciation Reserve Fund and Pension Fund respectively in the Revised Estimates, the Total Working Expenses are likely to be Rs. 87,200 crore during 2010-11. Accounting for full dividend liability Rs. 4,917 crore the “Excess” comes to Rs. 4,105 crore. The Minister of Railways said that the Revised Operating Ratio works out to 92.1% which would have been 72.8% with pre-Pay Commission salaries. The revised plan outlay has been kept at Rs. 40,315 crore, she said. The Minister of Railways said that the Railways will save Rs. 3,700 crore by economy drive and other austerity measures.