railway budget - 2012 -13 speech

8/2/2019 Railway Budget - 2012 -13 Speech

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Budget 2012-2013

Speech o f

Dinesh Tr ived i

Min iste r o f Ra ilw ays

March 14, 2012

Madam Speak er ,

1 . I r ise to present t he Rai lw ay Budget fo r 2012-13.

2 . I cons ide r i t a g rea t p r iv i lege fo r me to head the s t rong and

v ib rant ra i lw ay fami ly and presen t my m a iden Ra i lway Budge t w h ich is

a lso the f i rs t year o f the 12 t h

F ive Year Plan. I am gra te fu l to the

Hon 'b le Pr ime Min ister fo r h is insp i r ing gu idance and support in

fo rmu la t ing the Budge t .

3 . I am a lso gra te fu l to the Honb le F inance Min ister and the UPA

Chairperson, Smt. Son ia Gandhi fo r the i r support . I t w ou ld not have

been poss ib le fo r me to p resen t th is budge t had I no t rece ived the

support and c onf idence o f m y par ty, A l l Ind ia Tr inamool Congress, and

i ts cha i rpe rson , Mamata Baner jee , to whom I sha l l a lways rema in

grate fu l . Above a l l , I am gra t e fu l to as i t i s on ly because o f

the i r b less ings tha t I have been ab le to mak e i t t o th is Par l iament .

, .

4. Madam Speaker , when I look a t the l i s t o f i l l us t r ious leaders o f

th is c oun t ry w ho had donned the mant le o f Ind ian Ra i lways r igh t f rom

Sh. Asaf A l i to Sh. La l Bahadur Shastr i , to Sh. Jag j ivan Ram j i , to Sh.

Gulzar i La l Nanda, Sh. Kamalapat i Tr ipath i , Sh. Madhu Dandavate to

Mamata Baner jee, I f ind myse l f now here near the i r s ta tu re . Bu t I have

cer t a in ly t r ied to tak e lessons f rom the pages o f his to ry and f rom t he i r

con t r ibu t ion to th is g rea t ins t i tu t ion . I am g ra te fu l to Mamata

Baner jee fo r g iv ing v is ion to ra i lways in he r V is ion 2020 document ,

wh ich has gu ided me immense ly in f raming the roadmap fo r ca r ry ing

fo rw a rd the task .

5 . I am g ra te fu l to each and every member o f 14 lakh s t rong Ra i l

Par iva r wh ic h has no t on ly g iven con f idence to m e bu t has a lso show n

the d i rec t ion . I t i s th rough the i r ded ica t ion , ha rdwork , loya l ty and

sacr i f i ce tha t the ra i lways have sca led g rea t he igh ts . No o ther


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organ izat ion can perhaps draw a para l le l w i th Ind ian Rai lways. R ight

f rom the Board Members to the gangman, i t i s on ly th is un i ty wh ich

has overcome var ious cha l lenges and has made the coun t ry p roud .

Therefo re , I ded ica te t o them a l l the ach ievements o f t he ra i lways so

far .

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,

6. Madam, when I took oa th on 12 th Ju ly 2011 as Min is te r o f

Ra i lways, the ra i lw ays had jus t been over taken by an un fo r tuna te ra i l

acc iden t a t Fa tehpur Ma lwa near Kanpur on 10 th Ju ly , 2011 . I had

rushed to the acc iden t s i te ins tead o f go ing to Ra i l Man t ra laya . The

in tens i ty o f pa in and mise ry exper ienced by t he passengers and the i r

re la t i ves con t inues to haun t me and I have spent s leep less nigh ts . A t

tha t ve ry moment , I took a vow to e l im ina te recur rence o f such pa in fulhappen ings and dec ided tha t my en t i re emphas is i s go ing to be on

strengt hen ing Safe ty , Safe t y and Safe t y. The death on ra i l t rac k s just

can never be to le rated and i t i s no t ac cep t ab le .

7. I wou ld l i ke to re i te ra te my s t rong conv ic t ion and be l ie f in the

phrase, Safe ty Never S leeps as emphasized by Mamata Baner jee a l l

a long. I be l ieve that sa fe t y on Ind ian Rai lways has to be benchm arked

aga inst o the r modern ra i lway sys tems in the w or ld , be i t in Europe o r

Japan . Sa fe ty s tandards have been remark ab le in these sys tems, w i t h

no dea ths due to ra i l acc iden ts fo r decades toge ther on h igh speed

rou tes .

8 . Al though I am no t a t a l l sa t is f ied w i th t he sa fety s t andards a t the

presen t moment , I must in fo rm the august House tha t the en t i re

ra i lway fami ly i s equa l ly concerned and has been mak ing concer ted

e f fo r ts in th is di rec t ion . The com mi t ment made in 2001 to reduce

acc iden ts per m i l l ion t ra in km f rom 0 .55 to 0 .17 has been ach ieved .How ever, our ta rget shou ld be zero death .

9 . I wou ld l i ke to in fo rm the august House tha t more than 40% o f

the consequen t ia l t ra in acc iden ts , invo lv ing 60% to 70% o f the to ta l

casua l t ies oc cur a t unmanned leve l c ross ings. How ever , fund ing is an

issue wh ich needs to be co l lec t i ve ly addressed . To fas t t rack

e l im ina t ion o f leve l c ross ings in the next f i ve years , I have dec ided to

set up a Specia l Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named Rai l -Road Grade

Separat ion Corporat ion o f Ind ia .


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10. In order to ac h ieve even h igher safe ty st andards, I decided t o set

up a commi t tee to examine the cu r ren t s tandards o f sa fe ty on Ind ian

Ra i lways and to suggest su i tab le benchmarks and sa fe ty p ro toco ls .

Consider ing the zero to lerance approach in the areas o f nuclear

sc ienc e and aerospace , I fe l t tha t the best peop le to gu ide ra ilw ays in

de te rmin ing appropr ia te sa fe ty p ro toco ls shou ld be f rom these two

f ie lds. My dear f r iend, Dr . Kast ur i Rangan w ho h imsel f is an eminent

space sc ien t is t , and to w hom I am g ra t e fu l , suggested t he name o f Dr .

An i l Kak odkar t o head th is t h is High Leve l Ra i lw ay Safe ty Comm i t t ee .

I am a lso g ra te fu l to Dr . Kak odkar and h is team fo r read i ly acc ep t ing

my request desp i te the i r ex t reme ly busy schedu le . Th is gestu re

under lines the fac t tha t in te res ts o f peop le and the na t ion a re c lose t o

the i r hear ts . The Comm i t t ee has submi t t ed i ts Repor t on 17 thFebruary, 2012 and recommended far reach ing measures and safe ty

p ro toco ls .

11. Madam Speaker , I assure the august House tha t the

recom mendat ions o f the Comm i t t ee w i l l rece ive focussed a t t en t ion as

requ i red . By way o f in i t ia t ing a long te rm approach to sa fe ty and in

l ine w i th recommendat ions o f the Commi t tee , I p ropose to se t up an

independent Ra i lway Sa fe ty Au thor i ty as a s t a tu t o ry regu lato ry body.

The funct ions o f the Author i ty w ou ld be w orked ou t in g rea te r de ta i l sin l ine w i th in te rna t iona l p rac t ices in the best in te res ts o f passenger

sa fe ty . Since research and deve lopment ac t iv i t ies a re cen t ra l to any

tang ib le resu l ts in the a rea o f sa fe ty enhancement , I a lso p ropose to

set up a Rai lway Research and Deve lopment Counci l a t the apex leve l

to spearhead such e f fo r ts . Th is wou ld a lso be in l ine w i th

recom mendat ions o f Kak odkar Comm i t t ee .

12. In todays wor ld , sa fe ty is dr iven by improved tec hno logy. Hence

sa fe ty s tandards canno t be ach ieved w i thou t m odern izat ion , as sa fetyand modern iza t ion a re tw o s ides o f the same co in . A t the same t im e ,

modern iza t ion canno t take p lace w i thou t f inanc ia l resources and

professiona l iza t ion o f manpow er. Therefore , I had set up yet another

Expert Group headed by Mr. Sam Pi t roda on modern izat ion and

resource mob i l i za t ion . The Group has submi t ted i ts repor t on 27 th

February, 2012 and has provided a b luepr in t fo r t he next f ive years for

modern isa t ion o f Ind ian Ra i lw ays. The recom mendat ions o f the Group

en ta i l an es t ima t ed investm ent o f `5.60 lak h crore .


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13. There has been cons iderab le c r i t i c ism o f Ind ian Ra i lways in

regard to on ly pa r t ia l imp lementa t ion o f recommendat ions o f severa l

com mi t tees se t up in the past . In th is con tex t , the Sa fe ty Comm i t t ee

has a lso observed that Ind ian Rai lways suf fers f rom an

implementat ion bug .

14. The Expert Group for Modern isat ion o f Ind ian Rai lways has

recommended imp lementa t ion o f the modern iza t ion p rogrammes

fo l low ing a M iss ion Mode approach , w i th c lea r ob jec t ives ,

measurab le mi lestones, tang ib le de l iverab les and wel l def ined

t im el ines. I have decided to c reate Miss ions headed by Miss ion

Di rec t o rs in each o f the iden t i f ied a reas fo r a th ree year te rm . The

Di rec t o rs w i l l d i rec t ly repor t to the Ra i lway Board. Each Mission

w ou ld be p rov ided w i th appropr ia te budge t and operat iona l au tonomy.In add i t ion , a H igh Leve l Commi t tee w i l l be se t up to fac i l i ta te

coord ina t ion amongst the Miss ions, fas t - t rack imp lementa t ion , and

address bo t t leneck s com ing in the w ay. Wi th th is , I expec t t ha t ac t ion

on recommenda t ions o f the two commi t tees wou ld take p lace i n a

t im e-bound and need-based m anner.

15. The Approach Paper o f the P lann ing Commission to the 12th

Plan, wh ich is ye t to be approved, envisages an investment o f US$1

t r i l l i on in the in f ras t ruc t u re sect o r w i th ha l f the investment o r `25 lakhcro re expected f rom p r iva te secto r , and rema in ing `25 lakh cro re

be ing p lanned by the government f rom i ts own resources. I be lieve

tha t Ra i lways, be ing a key t ranspor t and b ig in f ras t ruc tu re secto r fo r

the na t ion , must a t t rac t a t leas t 10% o f the government share o f

invest ment i .e . about `2.50 lak h crore dur ing t he 12th P lan per iod.

16. Madam, I in tend to a l ign Ind ian Ra i lways investment in the 12 th

P lan per iod keep ing in m ind the recommendat ions o f the two

com mi t tees tha t I have se t up . I am happy to in fo rm the Honb leMembers tha t the 12 th Plan investm ent p roposed by Ra i lways a t `7.35

lakh cro re rep resen ts a quan tum jump over the investment du r ing X I

Plan of `1.92 lakh crore . The requ i red resources for the p lan are

proposed to be met by :-

i . Gross Budget ary Support o f `2.5 lak h crore ;

i i . Government suppor t fo r na t iona l p ro jec t s o f `30,000 c rore ;

i i i . Ploughing back o f d iv idend o f `20,000 c rore

iv . In terna l Resources o f `1,99,805 c rore


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v. Ext ra Budge ta ry Resources o f `2,18,775 c rore

v i . Rai lway Safe ty Fund o f `16,842 crore .

17. The nat iona l concern o f sa feguard ing our borders a lso needs to

be adequate ly addressed. The geo-po l i t ic a l s i t uat ion on borders

ar is ing out o f bu i ld ing o f s ta te-o f -ar t road and ra i l ne twork by

ne ighbour ing countr ies requ i res a match ing response. The ra i lways

must rema in in a s ta te o f p reparedness to m ove men and mach ines to

border a reas. I t i s the re fo re , necessary to under tak e such p ro jec t s on

pr ior i ty and to ensure adequate government fund ing. There is a lso an

emergen t need to connect the remote and backward a reas th rough

soc ia l l y des i rab le ra i l connect iv i ty schemes to fos te r g rowth .

Besides, there are pro jects o f nat iona l importance in NE reg ion and

Kashmi r wh ich a re c ruc ia l to inc lus ive g rowth . The Pradhan Mant r iRa i l V ikas Yo jana as conceptua l ized by my leader Mamata Baner jee

w i th the b lessings o f Honb le Pr ime Min ister is under formula t ion. The

addi t iona l fund ing assistanc e requ i red is assessed to be about `5 lakh

cro re under the PMRVY f rom t he government .

18. The ra i lw ays have a large baske t o f pend ing p ro jec ts . A to ta l o f

487 pro jects o f new l ines, gauge convers ion, doub l ing and ra i lway

e lec t r i f i ca t ion w i th a th row- fo rward l iab i l i t y o f over ` one lakh cro re

have a l ready been approved by th is august House in the past and areat var ious stages o f ex ecut ion. Wi th a grossly inadequate leve l o f

budge ta ry suppor t , I can f rank ly and honest ly admi t tha t most o f these

pro jec ts canno t be com p le ted in a t im e bound manner . The co l lec t i ve

cha l lenge be fo re us is to fo rmu la te v iab le fund ing mechan isms fo r

these p ro jec ts w h ich re f lec t the un fu l f i ll ed asp ira t ions o f the peop le .

19. Madam Speaker , a Budge t i s no t jus t numbers in the fo rm o f

es t im a tes o f rece ip ts and expend i tu re . More impor tan t ly , i t invo lves

po l icy p ronouncements and de f in ing goa ls a long w i th a c red ib leroadmap to ach ieve the goa ls . The cho ic e be fo re me was e i the r jus t

to keep the sys tem dragg ing o r bu i ld a new, sa fe and modern ,

passenger and f re igh t t ranspor ta t ion sys tem wh ich wou ld con t r ibu te

at least 2 to 2 .5% to t he GDP of the nat ion as aga inst less t han 1% at

p resen t , and p rov ide much needed emp loyment oppor tun i ty to ou r

people . I am g lad to in form th i s august House, th rough you Madam,

tha t I have chosen the lat t e r . Wi th th is , Ind ian Ra i lw ays w ou ld

become an even more power fu l eng ine o f g rowth fo r the na t iona l


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ec onomy. Th is w ould requi re a mul t i -p ronged approach. Therefore , in

th is budge t I have foc ussed on

i . Safety;

i i . Consol idat ion;

i i i . Decongest ion & Capac i ty Augment a t ion

iv. Modern izat ion;

v. To br ing down the Operat ing Rat io f rom 95% to 84.9% in

2012-13 and to 74% in the t ermina l year o f 12th P lan w hic h

wou ld be an improvement over the best ever ach ieved by

Ind ian Rai lways.

These w ou ld need to be suppor ted by a sust a inab le f inanc ia l m ode l .

20.

There canno t be a more oppor tune moment to fo rmu la te a longte rm p lan , now tha t w e a re a t the t h reshold o f f inal i s ing the 12 th F ive

Year Plan. My budget , there fore , looks a t a t im e hor izon muc h beyond

a s ing le year , as I in t end to fo l low a c a re fu ll y though t ou t p lan fo r a t

least f ive years, w i th in the overa l l perspec t ive o f V is ion 2020. The

budget fo r 2012-13 w ou ld be a l ink in the cha in and w ou ld seamless ly

in teg ra te w i th the 12 th P lan and V is ion 2020 document o f Mamata

Baner jee.

21.

Madam Speaker , a f te r tak ing in to accoun t the spoken andw r i t t en w ords o f exper t s and peop le who unders tand rai lw ays, repor ts

o f Kakodkar and P i t roda Commi t tees, and w i th in the overa l l

pa ramete rs se t ou t in V is ion 2020 document , I rea l i se tha t a huge sum

of `14 lak h c rore is requ i red in the nex t ten years. Given the ser ious

const ra in t o f funds even to meet the day to day opera t iona l

expend i tu re , I have a H ima layan task o f runn ing the Ind ian Ra i lways

sa fe ly . I had tw o very c lea r ye t con t ras t ing opt ions e i the r to keep

the ra i lw ays in s ta tus quo mode w i t h jus t increment a l annua l changes,

or as the phrase goes, b i te the bu l le t . The second opt ion wouldinvo lve go ing fo r a genera t iona l change w i th a focus on sa fe ty and

inc lus ive g rowth to meet the asp i ra t ions o f th is g rea t coun t ry in the

nex t decade. I chose the generat iona l change, insp i red by Kabi Guru

Rabindranath Tagore:

Where the mind is w i thou t fear and the head is he ld high

,


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22. Madam Speaker , w i th a v iew to unders tand ing the rea l

asp i rat ions o f t he peop le , I have v is i ted severa l s ta tes a long w i t h myBoard Members , s ta r t ing w i th the fa r f lung S ta te o f Naga land in the

nor theast to Kera la in the sou th ; Maharash t ra in the west and

Chhat t isgarh in Centre , besides Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and

Karna tak a e tc . I in te rac t ed w i th the Ch ie f M in is te rs and the Members

o f bo th Houses o f Par l iament f rom those s ta tes , cu t t ing across par ty

l ines. I be l ieve that perhaps there is not a s ing le Member o f

Par l iament w i th w hom I d id no t have the p r ivi lege to in te rac t . I am

gra te fu l to a l l the Hon b le Members and the Ch ie f M in is te rs whom I

met co l lec t i ve ly , and a lso ind iv idua l ly , and f rom whom I have t ru lylea rn t a lo t abou t the asp i ra t ions o f the comm on man.

23. Madam Speaker , in the las t e igh t months o f my work ing as

Rai lway Min ister , I have rece ived as many as 5741 requests. These

inc lude

(i ) 476 requests for pro jects o f newl ines, doub l ing and gauge

convers ion o r exped i t ing the i r comp le t ion ;

( i i ) 273 requests for c onst ruct ion o f ROB/RUBs,

( i i i ) 41 for e lec t r i f i ca t ion

( iv) 48 fo r se t t ing o f manu fac t u r ing fac i l i t ies ,

(v) 646 requests fo r new t ra ins ,

(vi) 303 fo r ex t ens ion of t ra ins ,

(vi i ) 214 fo r increas ing the f requency o f t ra ins ,

(vi i i ) Another 811 for t ra in st oppages and

( ix ) About 3000 requests fo r m isce l laneous a reas such as

t ransfe rs & post ings o f ra i lway emp loyees and passenger

amen it i es e tc .

I , as a Member o f Par l iament , do understand and rea l ise the

expecta t ions o f peop le o f the const i tuenc ies wh ich each member

represents . A l l the i r demands are genu ine asp i ra t ions.

24. I am g lad to s ta te tha t in th is Budge t , I have t r ied to p rov ide

someth ing t o meet the asp i ra t ions o f the peop le across the leng th and

bread th o f the coun t ry and to meet these demands w i th in the


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ava i lab le resources. I am sure w hen the members go th rough the

Annexures w h ich a re appended a t t he end o f my budge t speech , they

w i l l apprec ia te t ha t I have made s incere e f fo rts .

25. I a lso have a c lea re r pe rspect ive o f wha t ra i lways mean to the

common man and how the ra i lways have been a t rue ca ta lys t o f

in teg ra t ion . Jus t as we canno t imag ine Ind ia w i thou t H ima layas

w e canno t im ag ine Ind ia w i t hou t the ho ly r i ve r Ganga .

Simi la r ly w e canno t im ag ine Ind ia w i t hou t Ind ian Ra i lw ays.

,

,

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The Ra i lw ays a re t he symbo l and substanc e o f Ind ia s un i ty . Ra i lw ays

have the i r w hee ls on ear th , no t in t he sky o r jus t u rban st ree ts . I f w e

do no t s t reng then Ind ian Ra i lways, w e weak en our coun t ry . Tha t i s

w hy I t ru ly be l ieve tha t i t i s t he co l lec t i ve respons ib il i t y o f Par l iament

to m ake Ind ian Ra i lways in t o a spark l ing se rv ice i .e. amongst the best

in the wor ld . Th is means na t iona l investment . So the t im e has com e

to th ink o f a Na t iona l Po l icy fo r Ra i lways, jus t as we have one fo r

Defence and for Ext erna l Af fa i rs .

26. I have no doub t tha t in f ras t ruc tu re c rea t ion he lps a l lev ia te

pover ty . Ra i lw ays be ing the most impor tan t segment o f

in f ras t ruc tu re , the re is a s t rong case fo r the government to

s ign i f ican t ly enhance f inanc ia l suppor t t o Ind ian Ra i lways, fac i l i ta t ing

the deve lopment p rocess be ing tak en to the underdeveloped reg ions.

Th is w i l l resu l t in m a ins t reaming the peop le o f these reg ions, so tha t

they can reap the f ru its o f economic deve lopment .

27. Madam, th is Budget is un ique in many w ays. I have a l ready

ment ioned abou t my consu l ta t ions w i th Ch ie f M in is te rs and Members

of Par l iament . Besides, I have a lso had deta i led d iscussions wi t h

var ious Commi t tees o f Par l iament inc lud ing the Consu l ta t i ve

Commit tee and Stand ing Commit tee; Ra i lway Sta f f Federat ions;

Chambers o f Commerce & Indust ry and many o ther s takeho lders . I

have made e f fo r ts to seek the v iews o f med ia and genera l pub l ic

th rough an indust r ious c onsu l ta t ion p rocess.


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28. My budget has been p repared w i t h the fu l l rea l i sa t ion tha t Ind ian

Ra i lways s tand a t a c rossroads and the p resen t moment o f fe rs an

oppor tun i ty to s igna l a new daw n fo r the o rgan iza t ion . Whi le the w or ld

is g rappl ing w i t h the p rob lem o f dea l ing w i th a f la t ec onomy, Ind ia has

rema ined in a hea l thy g rowth mode a l l th rough the economic

dow ntu rn . The w or ld i s look ing tow ards Ind ia and the huge po ten t ia l

i t possesses to ac t as the Eng ine o f Growth . On a somewhat sma l le r

sca le , wha t Ind ia i s to the wor ld , Ind ian Ra i lways a re to the Ind ian

economy. Therefo re , i f I may be permi t t ed some imm odesty , Ind ian

Ra i lways has a ve ry c r i t i ca l ro le in ca ta lys ing g rowth fo r the wor ld

economy. I am consc ious tha t Ind ia canno t susta in i ts p resen t GDP

growth un less i ts lead bas ic in f ras t ruc tu re , Ind ian Ra i lways,

modern izes and g row s a t leas t 10% annua l ly .

29. Drawing f rom the recommendat ions o f Kakodkar and P i t roda

Comm i t t ees, I have chosen f i ve focus a reas. Th is w ou ld lead to

s t reng then ing o f the bas ic in f rast ruc tu re o f Ind ian Ra i lways resu l t ing

in sa fe ty , decongest ion , capac i ty augm enta t ion and m oderniza t ion o f

sys tem, c rea t ing more e f f i c ien t , fas te r and sa fe r ra i lways. The a reas

are:

a . Track ;

b .

Bridges;c . Signa ll ing & Te lecom mun ic a t ion ;

d . Rol l ing Stoc k ; and

e. Sta t ions & Fre ight Termina ls

Annual Plan, 2012-13

30. Madam Speaker , I wou ld now l i ke to d iscuss b r ie f l y each o f

these areas and t he proposed investm ent in t he Annual Plan, 2012-13.

With in the constra in ts o f funds, the Annual P lan out lay for the year

2012-13 has been t argeted a t `60,100 crore , w h ic h is h ighest ever p laninvestment . The p lan wou ld be f inanced th rough :-

i . Gross Budgetary Support o f `24,000 c rore ;

i i . Rai lway Safe ty Fund o f `2,000 c rore ;

i i i . In t erna l Resourc es o f `18,050 c rore ; and

iv. Extra Budgetary Resources o f `16 ,050 cro re , wh ich

inc ludes marke t bo r row ing of `15,000 crore through IRFC.


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Track and Br idges

31. With a lmost 80% o f the t ra f f i c c a r r ied on 40% of the ra i l ne tw ork ,

the h igh densi ty network (HDN) routes are over-satura ted and there is

a c ry ing need to upgrade and expand capac i ty to reduce congest ion ,

p rov ide t ime fo r ma in tenance and improve p roduct iv i ty and sa fe ty .

Th is wou ld inc lude p rogress ive sh i f t to f lash bu t t techno logy fo r

weld ing o f ra i ls , p rogressive use o f 60 kg ra i ls instead o f 52 kg,

p rov is ion o f th ick web sw i tches a t po in ts & cross ings, mechan ised

ma in tenance w i th the la tes t t rack mach ines and increased f requency

o f u l t rason ic tes t ing o f t racks . Dur ing the next 5 years , I p lan to

modern ize near ly 19000 km t rack th rough renewa ls , upgrada t ion o f

t rac k , rep lacement and s t reng then ing o f 11 ,250 b r idges t o run heav ie r

f re igh t t ra ins o f 25 tonne ax le load and to ach ieve passenger t ra in

speeds o f 160 kmph and over , w i th an es t ima ted expend i tu re o f`63,212 c rore . An a l loc at ion o f `6,467 crore has been made in the

Annual Plan, 2012-13, w h ic h forms about 11% of the t o ta l p lan out lay.

Signa l l ing Syst em s

32. Signa l ling sys tem on Ind ian Ra i lways w i l l be modern ized w i th t he

prov is ion ing o f advanced tec hno log ica l fea tu res . These w ou ld inc lude

Panel /Route Relay In ter locking cover ing 700 more sta t ions by 2014

thereby comp le t ing 5500 ou t o f the requ i red 6200 s ta t ions ;

In te r lock ing o f more than 1500 leve l c ross ing ga tes in add i t ion to t he10000 a l ready in te r locked , leav ing a ba lance o f 350 ; comp le te t rack

c i rcu i t ing a t 1250 ou t o f 6200 iden t i f ied s ta t ions , ins ta l la t ion o f ax le

coun te rs a t 3000 more s ta t ions and p rov is ion o f i so la t ion a t the

rema in ing 625 s ta t ions . One o f the s ign i f i can t advancement w ou ld be

the provis ion ing o f Tra in Protect ion & Warn ing System (TPWS), wh ich

ensures au tomat ic app l ica t ion o f b rakes whenever a d r ive r over -

shoo ts a s igna l a t danger , the reby e l im ina t ing c hances o f c o l l i s ion o f

t ra ins. To beg in w i th , TPWS is proposed to be insta l led on more t han

3 ,000 rou te kms, wh ich wou ld cover the en t i re au tomat ic s igna l l ingte r r i to ry on Ind ian Ra i lw ays. We a re tak ing nec essary ac t ion t o ensure

that TPWS technology is su i tab ly adapted to Ind ian cond i t ions.

Besides the e f for ts to deve lop TCAS (Tra in Col l is ion Avo idance

System) in teg ra t ing fea tu res o f d i f fe ren t techno log ies w i l l be

c ont inued by RDSO. These w ould a lso be a pre-requ is i te to increase

speed o f passenger t ra ins to 160km ph. The to t a l cos t o f va r ious

s igna ll ing and te lecom w orks has been es t ima t ed to be `39,110 crore

in the next 5 years . Tow ards th is end , I p ropose to prov ide `2,002


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cro re in 2012-13 , wh ich is more than doub le the a l loca t ion o f the

cur ren t year and the h ighest ever .

Modern isat ion o f Ro l l ing Stoc k

33. Upgrada t ion o f coaches inc lud ing EMU coaches, locomot ives

and wagons w i l l be one o f the key a reas o f modern iza t ion dur ing the

next 5 years fo r improv ing sa fe ty and conven ience & comfor t o f

passengers. Fo l lowing measures are proposed:-

i . To increase manufac tu re o f c rash-wor thy LHB coaches

wi th p roven an t i -c l imb fea tu re o f no t topp l ing dur ing

acc iden ts ;

i i . To p rocure new genera t ion e lec t r i c locomot ives o f 9000

and 12000 HP and d iese l locomot ives o f 5500 HP & 6000

HP to fac i l i ta te runn ing o f heavier and longer f re ight t ra insat h igher speeds;

i i i . To in t roduce new wagons w i th capab i l i t y o f 25 tonne ax le

load and h igher pay load to ta re ra t io to improve

product iv i ty ;

iv . In t roduct ion o f new Au to Car Wagon capab le o f ca r ry ing

318 cars per rake, present ly undergo ing osci l la t ion t r ia ls ;

and

v. With successfu l va l ida t ion o f runn ing o f doub le-stack

con ta ine r t ra ins , p ro l i fe ra t ion o f such t ra ins is a lsop lanned.

34. The investment in ro l l ing s tock in the next 5 years i s es t ima ted

to be `1,70,751 crore . I p ropose h ighest ever a l locat ion o f `18,193

cro re fo r the next year wh ic h rep resen ts m ore than 30% o f the Annua l

Plan out lay.

35. A comb ina t ion o f p ruden t investment dec is ions in the a reas o f

t rack & br idges, s igna l l ing , doub l ing and t ra in-sets is proposed to beadop ted to enab le t ra in runn ing a t speed o f 160 kmph and above .

Wh i le th is wou ld s ign i f i can t ly reduce t rave l t ime fo r passenger t ra ins

by 20-25%, the f re ight t ra ins would be ab le to carry enhanced

quan tum o f ca rgo w i t h at t endant revenue ga ins . Such in fras t ruc t u re

would a lso enab le Ind ian Rai lways to run Shatabd i t ra ins on long

d is tance t runk rou tes and be tween met ros . In fac t , the t rave l t ime

be tween New De lh i and Ko lka ta wou ld ge t reduced f rom a lmost 17

hours to 14 hours.


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Sta t ions & Fre igh t Termina ls

36. Stat ions and Fre ight Termina ls are our business centres. Ind ian

Ra i lways have o f ten d rawn f lak fo r no t p rov id ing an enab l ing

amb ience t o these bus iness cen t res w h ich a re used by cust omers . As

norma l doses o f incrementa l improvement and ma in tenance w i l l no t

be ab le to re fu rbish the ex te rna l look and amb ience a t the s t a t ions , I

have set up a separate organ isat ion namely Ind ian Rai lway Sta t ion

Deve lopment Corpora t ion , wh ich w i l l redeve lop the s ta t ions and

main ta in t hem on t he pa t te rn o f a i rpo r ts . The SPV w i l l d raw upon the

success s to r ies the wor ld over , adop t a su i tab le revenue mode l and

ta rge t redeve lopment o f 100 s ta t ions in the next f i ve years . Be ing

funded through PPP route , these e f for ts w i l l be cost neutra l fo r Ind ian

Ra i lways. I t has been est im a ted tha t deve lopment o f ma jo r s ta t ions in

met ro c i t ies has the po ten t ia l to c rea te emp loyment fo r abou t 50000persons.

37. Simi lar ly , to undert ake upgradat ion o f our goods sheds as a lso to

p rov ide las t m i le se rv ic ing fo r f re igh t t ra f f i c , I p ropose to c rea te a

Log is t i cs Corpora t ion fo r deve lopment and management o f ex is t ing

ra i lway goods sheds and mu l t im oda l log is t i cs pa rks . Th is Corpora t ion

w ou ld a im t o p rov ide to ta l log is t i c s so lu t ions to the ra i l -users , the reby

cu t t ing down on the i r opera t ing costs .

38. In the las t year s budge t speech , i t w as p roposed to deve lope 4

new coach ing te rmina ls a t Nemam and Ko t tayam in Kera la , Mau in

Ut t ar Pradesh and Dankuni in West Bengal . I p ropose to undertak e

surveys and feas ib i l i t y s tud ies fo r deve lop ing coach ing te rmina ls a t

these four sta t ions dur ing 2012-13, besides undertak ing a pre-

feas ib i l i t y s tudy fo r deve lopment o f Roypuram s ta t ion in Tami l Nadu

fo r w h ich m any represen ta t ions have been rece ived .

39. Deve lopment o f a new coach ing comp lex in Nav i Mumba i a tPanve l and coach ma in tenance comp lex a t Ka lambo l i in pa r tne rsh ip

wi th Government o f Maharashtra through CIDCO are a lso p lanned.

Th is w i l l fac i l i ta t e d i rec t connect iv i ty o f Navi Mumba i to o ther pa r ts o f

the c ount ry .

40. Next year w i l l be the 175 t h Bir th Ann iversary o f one o f the

greatest patr io t ic sons o f Ind ia , R ish i Bankim Chandra Chat topadhyay

w ho gave the coun t ry Vande Mat ram . In h is mem ory , I p ropose to

se t up a Coach ing Termina l to be named a f t e r h im a t Na ihat i , h is B i r th


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Plac e, and a lso a Museum . We w i l l run a Spec ia l Tra in across the

coun t ry to d issemina te h is legacy t o the young genera t ion .

41. With in the l imi ted resources ava i lab le , th rust is a lso be ing g iven

to capac i ty augmenta t ion works . The p ro jec ts o f doub l ing and t ra f f i c

fac i l i t ies are ex t reme ly impor tan t f rom opera t iona l po in t o f v iew . I

p ropose to a l loca te abou t `4 ,410 cro re to capac i ty augmenta t ion

works . To con t inue Ind ian Ra i lways d r ive towards improv ing

passenger ameni t ies, an a l locat ion o f `1,102 crore has been provided

compared to `762 c rore in 2011-12. I s t rong ly fee l that va luab le

serv ices rendered by ded ica ted w ork fo rce o f Ind ian Ra i lw ays need to

be recogn ised by p rov id ing improved amen i t ies to them. Th is w ou ld be

in the fo rm o f improvements a t work p laces, be t te r hous ing fac i l i t ies ,

improved se rv ice a t hosp i ta ls and o ther fac i l i t ies . Accord ing ly ,a l loca t ion o f `717 cro re in the cu r ren t year has been a lmost doub led

t o `1,388 cro re in 2012-13.

Capac i ty Augment a t ion

42. The Budgetary Support to Ind ian Rai lways has been pegged a t a

modest leve l o f `24 ,000 cro re as aga ins t a p ro jec ted requ i rement o f

`45 ,000 cro re . The na t iona l p rojec t s in Kashmi r and nor theast reg ion

have a lso to be funded out o f th is . These pro jec ts a lone need more

than `4 ,000 cro re fo r the c u r ren t year and may ge t de layed fo r w an t o fadequate fund ing. I have a l ready in formed the august House o f my

de ta i led p lans o f investment on sa fe ty , modern iza t ion and capac i ty

enhancem ent du r ing the 12 th P lan . Wi th low er budge ta ry support , the

dep loyment o f cap i ta l wou ld be lower to tha t ex t en t . I am sure

rea l i zing the bene fi ts o f sa fe ty and modern iza t ion , the government w i l l

enhance t he a l loca t ion o f GBS to Ra i lways nex t year .

43. I am sure the House w i l l jo in me in comp l imen t ing the Ind ian

Ra i lways fo r the g rea t ach ievement o f comp le t ing 11 km long tunne lth rough Pi r Pan ja l Moun ta in Range , w h ich w ou ld p rov ide c onnect iv i ty

to the Kashmi r va l ley . When commiss ioned , th is w i l l be the longest

t ranspor ta t ion t unne l.

,

,

-


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New L ines

44. Madam, Ra i lways con t inue to accord p r io r i ty to const ruc t ion o f

new l ines in the underdeve loped par ts o f the coun t ry . The pace o f

const ruc t ion has reg is te red impress ive g rowth , and we a re con f iden t

o f com p le t ing 725 km o f new l ines in the c u r ren t year (l i s t o f p ro jec ts

appended as Annexure 1 ) , wh ich is a lmost equa l to las t year

ach ievement o f 709 k m and fa r exc eeds the average o f abou t 200 k m

on ly s ince independence . I p ropose to tak e up com p le t ion o f 45 new

l ine work s cover ing 700 km dur ing 2012-13 . A l i s t o f these p ro jec t s i s

a t Annexure 2 .

45. I have rece ived many requests fo r tak ing up new l ine p ro jec ts .

A l l such requests have been du ly cons idered and wherever su rveys

have been comple ted, the proposa ls have been re ferred to thePlann ing Comm ission for appra isa l and in pr inc ip le approva l . A l is t o f

such 85 new l ine p ro jec ts i s a t Annexure 3 . I a lso p ropose to

undertake a fur ther 114 new l ine surveys dur ing 2012-13 ( l is ted a t

Annexure 4). Sta t e Government s have a lso been requested to com e

fo rw ard fo r shar ing the cost o f the respect ive p ro jec t s and to p rov ide

land f ree o f cos t to fac i l i ta te ea r ly const ruc t ion o f p ro jec ts . Desp i te

const ra in ts , I have inc luded a l l the 11 new l ine p ro jec ts wh ich have

been c leared by the P lann ing Commission in pr inc ip le fo r

c onstruc t ion in 2012-13. An a l locat ion o f `6,872 c rore has been madeunder the new l ines p lanhead . A l i s t o f t hese p ro jec t s i s appended a t

Annexure 5 .

Gauge Convers ion

46. Fund ing const ra in ts a re l i ke ly t o c ause s l ippage in the ta rge t o f

1017 km for Gauge Convers ion for 2011-12. I t is expec ted t hat 825 km

of gauge convers ion p ro jec ts w i l l be comp le ted ( l i s t appended as

Annexure 6). A ta rge t o f 800 km has been f ixed fo r next year w i t h an

a l loca t ion o f `1,950 c rore . Seventeen gauge convers ion pro ject s areproposed to be comple ted in 2012-13 and are l is ted a t Annexure 7 .

Wi th m y emphas is on com p le t ion o f ongoing gauge convers ion work s ,

I have inc luded on ly t w o new p ro jec ts in t he Budge t , 2012-13 and the

l i s t o f these p ro jec t s i s a t Annexure 8 . I have a lso sen t fou r pro jec ts

of gauge convers ion to the P lann ing Commission for appra isa l and in

pr inc ip le approva l . A l is t o f 4 such gauge convers ion pro ject s is a t

Annexure 9 . New surveys for c onver t ing seven narrow gauge l ines are

a lso proposed to be t ak en up in 2012-13 (appended a t Annex ure 10) .


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47. The Unigauge Pol icy was adopted by Ind ian Rai lways in 1992.

Since then, about 19,000 km have a l ready been conver ted in to broad

gauge, cover ing the major routes, leaving iso la ted sect ions o f on ly

about 7 ,500 km on metre gauge/narrow gauge. I am happy to in form

th is august house tha t w i th the p resen t pace o f convers ion o f abou t

800 to 900 kms every year , we w i l l be ab le to conver t most o f the

MG/NG l ines, except Wor ld Her i tage L ines in to broad gauge dur ing

the 12t h Plan per iod.

Doubl ing

48. Doub l ing p ro jec ts o f 750 kms a re expected to be comp le ted in

2011-12 aga inst the target o f 867 kms ( l is t a t Annexure 11) . A target

o f 700 km cover ing 67 p ro jec ts o f doub l ing ( l i s t a t Annexure 12) has

been f i xed fo r 2012-13 w i th a budge t a l lo tment o f`

3,393 crore asagainst `2,640 cr in RE, 2011-12. I a lso propose to t ak e up in 2012-13,

a fur ther o f 23 new pro jects o f doub l ing/ th i rd l ine for wh ich approva ls

of P lann ing Commission have been obta ined. A l is t o f these pro jec ts

is a t Annexure 13 . I have a lso sen t fou r p ro jec ts o f doub l ing to the

Plann ing Comm ission for appra isa l and in pr inc ip le approva l . A l is t o f

4 such pro jec ts i s a t Annexure 14. A to ta l o f 21 surveys fo r doub l ing

are a lso be ing tak en up dur ing 2012-13. A l is t is appended a t

Annexure 15.

Ra i lway E lec t r i f i ca t ion

49. Madam, I t i s m y p roud p r ivi lege to appr ise the House tha t du r ing

the 11 th P lan , we a re po ised to ach ieve 4 ,500 rou te k i lomete rs o f

e lec t r i f i ca t ion . Encouraged by th is success, I p ropose to e lec t r i f y

6 ,500 route k i lomet ers dur ing the 12th P lan per iod. Th is w ould inc lude

e lec tr i f ic a t ion o f Udham pur-Sr inagar-Baramul la l ine and henc e provide

po l lu t ion f ree t rac t ion to t he p r is t ine Kashmi r Va l ley . An a l loca t ion o f

`828 cro re has been p rov ided in 2012-13 fo r e lec t r i f i c a t ion w h ich w i l l

enab le com p le t ion o f 1100 kms ( l i s ted a t Annexure 16). The deta i l s o fe lec t r i f i ca t ion o f 10 new sect ions be ing inc luded in the cu r ren t year

budge t , as a lso 20 su rveys fo r e lec t r i f i ca t ion o f add i t iona l sec t ions,

a re re f lec t ed in the l i s t p lac ed a t Annexure 17 .

50. Elect r i f i ca t ion on Ind ian Ra i lways had i ts adven t w i th the

in t roduct ion o f 1500 vo l t DC t rac t ion sys tem in Mumba i a rea dur ing

1925 to 1929 for runn ing o f suburban serv ic es. The syst em had

ou t l i ved i ts u t i l i t y and requ i red rep lacement t o the m odern 25000 vo lt

AC sys tem . I t i s my p roud p r iv i lege to share w i t h the august House


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tha t the cha l leng ing task o f convers ion f rom DC to AC has been

succ essfu l ly ach ieved on the en t i re Weste rn Ra i lw ay por t ion . Sim i la r

convers ions wi l l be comple ted dur ing 2012-13 on the Centra l Ra i lway

por t ion w h ich ex tends to Pune . Th is w i l l g ive s ign i f i can t bene f i ts by

w ay o f h igher speeds, reduced jou rney t im e and substan t ia l sav ings in

opera t ional cos t s .

Met ropo l i tan T ranspor t Pro jec ts

51. Ko lka ta Met ro i s the on ly met ro sys tem under the Ind ian

Ra i lways. I am there fo re happy to share w i th the Hon b le Members

tha t the fo l low ing works announced by Mamata Baner jee in p rev ious

tw o budge ts , a re p rogress ing sa t is fac t o r i l y :-

i . Ext ens ion f rom Dum Dum t o Baranagar ;

i i .

Ext enst ion f rom Noapara to A i rpo r t ( fo r running a shu t t lemet ro se rv ice be tw een Noapara and a irpo r t );

i i i . Noapara to Barasat v ia B imanbandar;

iv . Baranagar to Bar rack pore and Daksh ineshwar ;

v . Airpor t t o New Gar ia v ia Rajarhat ;

v i . Jok a to BBD Bagh v ia Maje rha t .

52. Joka- I IM-Diamond Park Metro extension as the f i rs t leg o f Joka-

Mahanayak Ut tam Kumar Met ro l ink i s p roposed to be taken up .

Survey repor t fo r ex tens ion o f met ro ra i lway f rom Bar rackpore to

Ka lyan i i s be ing f ina l i sed and the w ork w i l l be tak en up in due course .Bes ides, ex tens ion o f c i rcu la r ra i lway f rom Remount Road to

Santos hpur v ia Garden Reach, Met iabruz has a lso been tak en up. I am

sure tha t w i th the comp le t ion o f a l l these met ro p ro jec ts , met ro

t ranspor t needs o f the res iden ts o f Ko lka ta w i l l be addressed to a

la rge ex t en t .

53. The MMTS Phase- I has a l ready been commissioned and is

p rov id ing exce l len t se rv ices to the peop le o f Hyderabad and

Secunderabad. To fu r the r augment ra i l t ranspor t se rv ices in the tw inci t ies, MMTS Phase I I p ro ject announced in the last year budget has

now been sanct ioned a f te r ob ta in ing the requ is i te c lea rances.

Ra i lways a lso p ropose to se t up a SPV w i th S ta te Government o f

Andhra Pradesh for c omm ercia l management o f the MMTS. Whi le

leav ing the t ra in opera t ions w i th the ra i lways, th is w i l l p rov ide the

requ i red focus and f lex ib i l i t y fo r address ing the in f ras t ruc tu ra l and

business needs o f the organ izat ion as a lso a much needed p la t form for

i ts rap id g rowth and deve lopment to meet pub l ic asp i ra t ions .


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Feas ib il i t y o f se t t ing up s im i la r SPVs fo r o the r suburban sys tem s w i l l

a lso be ex p lored.

54. The work on ex tens ion o f MRTS f rom Ve lachery to S t . Thomas

Mount in Chennai is progressing smooth ly and I am hopefu l o f

com p le t ing and comm iss ion ing th is p ro jec t du r ing 2013 .

55. I am ext reme ly happy to in fo rm the august House tha t Mumba i

Rai l V ikas Corporat ion (MRVC) has succ essfu l ly c omple t ed i ts f lagsh ip

pro ject o f MUTP Phase I cost ing `4 ,500 cro re w i th t he coopera t ion o f

Government o f Maharashtra and o ther stakeholders. Ra i l users in

Mumba i have immense ly bene f i t ted w i th the induct ion o f 1500 EMU

coaches, thus increas ing the ca r ry ing capac i ty by 35% and the reby

reduc ing the congest ion and overcrowd ing dur ing peak hours . Thework on MUTP Phase I I a t a cost o f `5,300 crore is a lso progressing

we l l and i ts comp le t ion w i l l fu r the r boost the suburban t ranspor t

serv ices in Mumbai . A road map for MUTP I I I has been prepared to

fu r the r s t reng then and augment the suburban ra i l in f ras t ruc tu re and

MRVC wou ld ca r ry ou t feas ib i l i t y s tudy fo r const ruc t ion o f fas te r

corr idors on CSTM-Panvel and Virar-Vasai-Diva-Panvel sect ions

th rough innova t ive f inanc ing mec han isms. The p roposed 72 km l ink

betw een Vi rar-Panve l 3rd l ine in the PPP mode w i l l open new avenues

fo r deve lopment o f no r the rn par t o f Mumba i and fac i l i ta te commutersto t rans i t be tw een easte rn and w este rn par ts o f the c i ty . Feas ib il i t y

o f a spur f rom Panve l to Nav i Mumba i a i rpo r t w i l l a lso be exam ined .

56. Madam, in order to address the t ranspor t needs in Navi Mumbai

a rea , I am happy to announce tha t w orks w i l l be tak en up to fac i l i t a te

runn ing o f 12-c ar rak es on Harbour l ine . A new double l ine w ork o f

Be lapur-Seawood-Uran is in progress, wh ich wi l l p rovide d i rect

passenger connect iv i ty t o JNPT.

Elevat ed Suburban Corr idor in Mum bai

57. The f inancia l model l ing o f an e levated ra i l corr idor f rom

Churchga te t o V i ra r to be exec u ted t h rough PPP mode in c oord ina t ion

w i th the Governm ent o f Maharashtra is be ing f i rm ed up. The proposed

pro jec t w i l l enab le in t roduct ion o f p remium AC suburban ra il se rv ices .

A pre feasib i l i ty survey for a s imi la r corr idor between CST and Kalyan

(55 km ) is a lso p roposed to be tak en up in due course .


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58. I w ish to h igh l igh t tha t t he investm ent ou t l ined above in capac i ty

augmenta t ion p ro jec ts wou ld be g ross ly inadequa te keep ing in v iew

the la rge shel f o f pro jec ts. Therefore , in order to opt im al ly u t i l ize the

ava i lab le resources and ob t a in re tu rns a t the ear l ies t , i t i s p roposed to

p r io r it i se fund ing tow ards com p le t ion o f las t m i le p ro jec t s and ensure

susta ined a l loca t ion dur ing t he 12 th P lan .

59. Rai lways a re p lay ing a s ign i f i can t ro le in soc ia l deve lopment o f

the c oun t ry by p rov id ing ra i l connect iv i ty to t he remote , back w ard and

tr iba l reg ions on cons idera t ions o ther than f inanc ia l v iab i l i ty . I be l ieve

tha t Ind ian Ra i lw ays has a s t rong case fo r the government t o c ons ider

p lough ing i ts d iv idend payment back in to the ra i lway sys tem fo r

augment ing fund ing o f c r i t i ca l soc ia l l y des i rab le p ro jec ts .

Recommendat ions to th is e f fec t have been made in Ra i lway Secto rrepor t fo r t he 12 th Plan .

Cooperat ion w i th S ta te Governments

60. I am p leased to in fo rm the august House tha t as a new PPP

in i t ia t i ve , Ra i lways in pa r tne rsh ip w i th Government o f Chha t t i sgarh

and user indust r ies in the reg ion w i l l deve lop three ra i l c orr idors in the

nor the rn par t o f the s ta te fo r movement o f passengers and f re igh t ,

w i th the ac t ive par t i c ipa t ion o f a l l s takeho lders . A Memorandum o f

Unders tand ing has recen t ly been s igned and the in i t ia t i ve w ou ld nowbe taken fo rw ard in consu l ta t ion w i t h the Sta t e Government .

61. In v iew o f the dec la ra t ion o f the Kak inadaV ishakhapa tnam

Coasta l Corr idor as the PCPI Region consequent to d iscovery o f

considerab le o i l and gas reserves, as a lso deve lopment o f a deep

wate r po r t and SEZ a t Kak inada , ra i l connect iv i ty i s now be ing

prov ided f rom P ithapuram t o Kak inada on cost shar ing bas is w i t h the

Governm ent o f Andhra Pradesh. I t w i l l be our endeavour to deve lop

s im i la r pa r tne rsh ip fo r deve lopment o f m uch needed ra i l in fras t ruc t u rew i th o the r w i l l ing s ta tes a l so.

62. To augment resources fo r execu t ion o f p ro jec ts , Ra i lway

requested S ta te Governments t o com e fo rw ard fo r shar ing cost o f new

l ine, gauge convers ion and doubl ing pro jects which are considered

impor tan t by t hem fo r deve lopment o f the S ta te bu t c ou ld not be tak en

up or progressed a t des i red pace . I am happy to announce tha t

response f rom s ta te governments has been qui te encourag ing. As o f

now , 31 p ro jec ts c over ing a leng th o f more than 5000 km in 10 s ta tes


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are be ing execu ted w i th con t r ibu t ion f rom s ta te governments ( l i s t i s

appended as Annexure 18) . Cont inu ing wi th th is po l icy, I p ropose to

tak e up fo l low ing fou r p ro jec t s on cost shar ing bas is w i th s ta t e

governments :

(a )Rohtak -Hansi v ia Meham (Haryana Govt)

(b )Ak k anapet-Medak (Andhra Pradesh Govt)

(c )Bhadracha lam -Kovvur (Andhra Pradesh Govt)

(d )Rajabhatkhow a-J a in t i (West Bengal Govt )

63. Sta te Governments have come fo rward to share cost o f some

more p ro jec ts in the i r s ta t es . Those inc lude Governments o f

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Ra jasthan, Jharkhand

and Maharash t ra . These p ro jec ts w i l l be g iven spec ia l a t ten t ion andprocessed on p r io r i ty fo r ob ta in ing requ is i te c lea rances. Fo l low ing

new l ine p ro jec ts w i th cost shar ing by s ta te government have been

sent t o P lann ing Commiss ion for appra isa l and in pr inc ip le approva l :

(a ) Gadag-Haveri

(b ) Gadag-Wadi

(c ) Kandra-Namkom (Ranch i )

(d ) Kondapal l i -Kathagudem

(e ) Manmad-Indore v ia Malegaon & Dhule

(f )

Manugur-Ramagundam s tn .(g ) Pirpa in t i -Jasid ih

(h ) Pune-Nasik

(i ) Thiyat Ham ira Sanu

(j ) Kadir i Put t apar t hy

(k ) Chick ba l lapur Put t apar thy

(l ) Srin ivasapu ra - Madana pal l i

Pub l ic Pr iva te Par tnersh ips64. Hon b le Members a re aware t ha t t he ra i lways have been mak ing

e f fo r ts to a t t rac t fund ing in ra i l p ro jec ts th rough PPP in i t ia t i ves . In

the l igh t o f l im i ta t ions o f fund ing suppor t f rom the government and

const ra in ts in regard to in te rna l genera t ion and marke t bo r row ing , the

12th P lan pro ject ions o f Ind ian Rai lw ays seek to re ly on PPP route in a

s ign i f ican t manner . Th is wou ld be in l ine w i th the Approach Paper o f

Plann ing Commiss ion for the 12t h P lan.


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65. How ever , the resu l ts o f the PPP e ffo r ts o f t he ra i lways have no t

been encourag ing. I have, there fore , had the exist ing market ing

schemes rev iewed tho rough ly to g ive them grea te r marke t focus,

p rov ide g rea te r con t ro l to the ra i l -user by mak ing h im a s takeho lder

and to engage h im in the p lann ing p rocess fo r ta i lo r ing a to ta l

log ist ics so lu t ion. The exist ing schemes for Wagons Leasing, S id ings,

Pr iva te Fre ight Termina ls, Conta iner Tra in Operat ions, ra i l -

connect iv i ty pro jects (R3- i and R2C- i ) a re be ing made more a t t ract ive

to PPP par t ners.

66. In apprec ia t ion o f the need to fac i l i ta te the f i rs t and las t m i le

c onnect iv i ty proac t ive ly, Min ist r ies o f Coal , Pow er, Sh ipp ing and Stee l

were approached fo r iden t i f i ca t ion o f appropr ia te ra i l connect iv i ty

p ro jec ts . A to ta l of 17 such p rojec t s have been sanct ioned andano ther 28 p ro jec ts have been ident i f ied . Ra i lways w i l l in te rac t w i th

concerned u t i l i t y s takeho lders to take the p rocess o f p rov is ion ing o f

f i rs t and las t m i le c onnect iv i ty fo rw ard , la rgely t h rough the PPP rou te .

67. Mumbai Suburban Rai lway System has sound potent ia l fo r

mob i l i z ing add i t iona l resources f rom commerc ia l u t i l i za t ion o f land

and a i r spac e, thus provid ing funds for in f rast ruc ture deve lopment . I

have asked MRVC to in i t ia te a p i lo t p ro jec t fo r commerc ia l

deve lopment .

Dedicat ed Fre ight Corr idor

68. Madam Speaker , we have taken up the icon ic in f ras t ruc tu re

pro jec t o f const ruc t ion o f Ded ica ted F re igh t Cor r ido rs f rom Ludh iana

to Dankuni and Dadr i to Jawahar la l Nehru Por t , fo r e f f ic ient f re ight

t ranspor ta t ion to and f rom por ts and to fac i l i ta te decongest ion o f the

HDN rou tes . Th is i s one o f the b iggest in f ras t ruc tu re p ro jec ts under

execu t ion sp read over 3300 kms, cover ing easte rn , no r the rn and

w este rn par t o f t he coun t ry . Fund ing ass is tance f rom Wor ld Bank andJ ICA has been t ied up. A to t a l o f 6500 hect ares o f land, out o f 10700

hec tares requ i red, has been ac qu i red so far . The b idd ing process for

the c i v i l and t rack wo rks has commenced . I t i s expec ted tha t the

con t rac t fo r c iv i l and t rack works fo r abou t 1000 rou te k i lomete rs on

East ern and Western DFCs w ould be aw arded dur ing 2012-13.

Progress o f ra i l based Indust r ies

69. Severa l in i t ia t i ves have been taken in the recen t past to se t up

ra i l based indust r ies. Madam, I am g lad to in form the Honb le


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Members that the Rai l Wheel P lant a t Chhapra has successfu l ly

produced 78 wheels dur ing 2011-12 and the P lant would be ready for

fu l l com m ission ing in 2012-13.

70. Simi lar ly , the Rae Bare l i Coach Factory is now ready for ro l l ing

ou t coaches and 10 coaches have a l ready been manufac tu red . The

phase-I I o f th is fac tory w ould be com m issioned in 2012-13.

71. Heal thy progress has been made in the Diese l Component

Facto ry a t Dankun i w i th the commencement o f t r ia l p roduct ion o f

under frames fo r h igh horsepow er locomot ives . The fac to ry w i l l be fu l l y

c omm issioned in 2012-13.

72.

The wagon manufac tu r ing fac to ry a t Ku l t i and f ia t bogey f rameun i t a t Budge Budge a re l i ke ly to commence p roduct ion dur ing 2012-

13.

73. As per a budge t announcement made ear l ie r by Mamata J i , a

w agon fac t o ry was to be loca t ed at a su itab le loca t ion in Od isha . In

v iew o f the request rec e ived f rom Sta t e Govt o f Od isha , wagon fac t o ry

is be ing loc ated a t S i tapa l i (Ganjam Dist r ic t ) .

74.

Keep ing in v iew the increased requ i rement o f passengercoaches, a ra i l coach fac to ry a t Pa lakkad w i th the suppor t o f

Government o f Kera la is proposed to be set up. S imi lar ly , two

add i t iona l new manufac tu r ing un i ts fo r coaches a re a lso p roposed to

be es tab l i shed in the K u tc h a rea in Gu ja rat and a t K o la r in Karna taka ,

the l a t te r w i th t he ac t i ve pa r t i c i pat i on o f the s ta te gove rnmen t .

75. Fur ther , i t i s p roposed to es tab l i sh a p lan t fo r manu fac tu re o f

t rac t ion a l te rna to rs fo r h igh horse pow er d iesel locom ot ives a t V id isha

in Madhya Pradesh.

76. I s ta te w i th p r i de tha t a s i ck un i t f o r wagon manu fac tu re

B ra i thwa i te taken over by ra i lways has been con fe r red w i th Tu rn

Around Award by the Board o f Reconst ruc t ion o f Pub l ic Secto r

Enterpr ises. Burn Standard, another un i t taken over is a lso on i ts way

to recovery .

77. In add i t ion I p ropose to se t up a fac t o ry a t Shyamnagar in West

Bengal on PPP basis for manufacture o f next generat ion techno logy


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Propu ls ion System fo r use in h igh power e lec t r i c locomot ive , wh ich

w i l l enab le enhanc ing o f p roduct ion capac i t y o f CLW.

78. I a lso p ropose to u t i l i ze and augment the e lec t r i c loco Anc i l la r ies

Un i t o f CLW be ing se t up a t Dankun i fo r fab r ica t ion o f locomot ive

she l ls and assemb ly o f t h ree phase locom ot ives fo r m anu fac t u r ing o f

new genera t ion 9000 HP locomot ives under t ransfe r o f techno logy

f rom Japan . Th is un i t w i l l be a modern fac i l i t y w i t h capac i ty to

assemb le 100 e lec t r i c locom ot ives per year .

Connec t iv i t y to Neighbour ing Countr ies

79. In ou r e f fo r t to have co rd ia l and improved re la t ions w i th

ne ighbour ing coun t r ies , Ind ian Ra i lways is tak ing up p ro jec ts to

p rov ide ra i l connect iv i ty to such coun t r ies . In 2011-12 , we had takenup two p ro jec ts name ly , Jogban i -B i ra tnagar new l ine and Jaynagar -

B i ja lpu ra -Bard ibas to p rov ide connect iv i ty to Nepa l . Con t inu ing w i th

the approach , I p ropose to tak e up a p ro jec t to c onnect Agar ta la w i t h

Akhaura in Bangladesh. Th is ra i l l ink wi l l no t on ly improve b i la tera l

t ies bu t w i l l a lso he lp in es tab l i sh ing connect iv i ty w i th inaccess ib le

a reas in no r theast as jou rney f rom K o lka t a t o T r ipu ra v ia Bangladesh

w i l l resu lt in s ign i f i can t sav ings in t ime and d is tance t rave l led .

Passenger Ameni t ies80. Madam, I have a l ready ment ioned about fo rmat ion o f an Ind ian

Rai lway Sta t ion Deve lopment Corporat ion to redeve lop 100 sta t ions in

the next f i ve years . Ind ian Ra i lways however have more than 8000

sta t ions and i t i s nec essary tha t e f fo r ts tow ards improved ava i lab il i t y

o f amen i t ies l i ke wa i t ing ha l l s , benches, adequa te l igh t ing , d r ink ing

w ate rs , to i le ts , p roper pla t fo rm serv ices e t c . a re made in a conc er ted

manner . Wi th th is concern , I p ropose to ra ise the a l loca t ion under

passenger ameni t ies f rom `762 crore in 2011-12 to `1,102 crore in

2012-13.

81. Some of the passenger and o ther user f r iend ly measures

in t roduc ed or be ing proposed dur ing 2012-13 are :

i . To fac i l i ta te easy movement o f passengers , ins ta l la t ion o f

321 esca la to rs a t impor tan t s ta t ions o f wh ich 50 w i l l be

c omm issioned dur ing 2012-13;

i i . 12 Sta te o f Ar t mechanized laundr ies a l ready set up and 6

more t o bec ome funct iona l du r ing 2012-13 ;


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i i i . SMS on passenger mobi le phone in case o f e- t icket a long

wi th an ID p roo f to be accep ted as p roo f o f va l id

reserva t ion ;

iv . In t roduct ion o f reg iona l c u is ine a t a f fo rdable ra tes t h rough

ca t e r ing se rv ice to ca t e r to loca l pala te ;

v. To meet the needs o f chang ing t imes and customer

demand, launch ing o f Book-ameal scheme to provide

mu l t ip le cho ice o f mea ls , l i ke low cost mea l , d iabe t ic m ea l

e tc . th rough SMS or emai l ;

v i . To se t up AC Execu t ive lounges a t impor tan t s ta t ions to

provide va lue added serv ices a t a charge, o f fer ing fac i l t ies

such as w i f i in te rne t , bu f fe t se rv ices , wash and change ,

concierge serv ices for pre-departure and post-arr iva l

ass is tance t o passengers ;v i i . Sett ing up o f new Rai l Neer P lants a t Pa lur in Tami lnadu

and Amberna th in Maharash t ra to fac i l i ta te smooth supp ly

o f wa t e r a t s ta t i ons ;

v i i i . Expans ion o f housekeep ing schemes fo r t ra ins such as

Clean Tra in Sta t ion, On Board Housekeeping Serv ices for

c lean ing en route and mechanized c lean ing a t

o r ig ina t ing /te rm ina t ing s ta t ions ;

ix . In t roduct ion o f Ra i l Bandhu on-board magazine on

Rajdhanis, Shatabd is and Duronto Tra ins;x . In t roduct ion o f co in /cu r rency opera ted t i cke t vend ing

mac h ines as a p i lot p ro jec t ;

x i . In t roduct ion o f A l te rna te T ra in Accommodat ion System

(ATAS) as a p i lo t p ro jec t to acc omm odate w a i t l i s ted

passenger on a l t e rna te t ra ins ;

x i i . In t roduct ion of f i rst m ode l rake w i th w or ld c lass in te r io rs ;

x i i i . Upgradat ion o f 929 sta t ions as Adarsh Sta t ions inc lud ing

84 sta t ions proposed in 2012-13 (Annexure 19) . 490

sta t ions have been comp le ted so fa r ;x i v . Const ruc t ion o f Mu l t i -func t iona l Complexes a t 24 loca t ions

comp le ted ;

x v. Sale o f PRS t ic k ets t hrough 151 post o f f ices;

xv i . Imp lementa t ion o f e lec t ron ic t ransmiss ion o f Ra i lway

Rece ip ts fo r f re igh t t ra f f i c d i rec t to t he custom ers .

82. Madam, I am a lso happy to in fo rm the august House tha t

Ra i lways have recen t ly in t roduced sa te l l i te based Rea l T ime Tra in

In format ion System (RTIS), a lso ca l led SIMRAN, to provide accurate


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t ra in runn ing in format ion to passengers through SMS, in ternet e tc.

The sys tem has a l ready been ac t iva ted on 36 t ra ins cover ing

Rajdhanis, Shatabd is and Durontos and i t w i l l be in t roduced in a l l

mai l /express t ra ins in the next 18 mont hs. On-board passenger

d isp lays w i th ind ica t ion o f next ha l t s t a t ion and expec ted a r r i va l t im e

to passengers in runn ing t ra ins through inputs f rom RTIS wi l l a lso be

in t roduc ed in a l l mai l /ex press t ra ins progressive ly.

Sec ur i ty o f Passengers

83. Madam Speaker , secur i ty o f our passengers has been o f pr ime

conc ern to us . I am p leased to in fo rm tha t I in tend to com p le te the

un f in ished task o f ins ta l la t ion o f In teg ra ted Secur i ty System a t a l l 202

ident i f ied sta t ions dur ing 2012-13. Add i t iona l ly , esc or t ing o f t ra ins by

RPF/GRP has been ext ended to a lmost 3500 t ra ins. I t is a lso nowproposed to in tegra te the RPF Help l ine wi th the A l l Ind ia Passenger

He lp l ine to fac i l i ta te much fas te r response to the secur i ty needs o f

passengers.

Disaster Management

84. Madam, Rai lways must possess modern, we l l - t ra ined and

equipped d isaster management machinery. The rescue and re l ie f

team s fo r the acc ident s i t es need spec ia l i zed t ra in ing where they can

be engaged in hands on dr i l ls . I p lan to set up three t ra in ing centresnamed as sa fe ty v i l lages a t Bengalu ru , Kharagpur and Luck now .

Cooperat ion w i th N ID

85. The Nat iona l Inst i tu te o f Design (NID) a t Ahmedabad is

in te rna t iona l l y acc la imed as one o f the fo remost mu l t i -d isc ip l ina ry

inst i tu t ions in the f ie ld o f design, educat ion and research. I had

occas ion to v i s i t t h i s Ins t i t u te w i th a v iew to ha rness ing the i r

exper t ise in design so as to leverage i t fo r br ing ing out design re la ted

improv isa t ions in the fac i l i t ies ava i lab le to passengers and o ther ra i l -users. A ded icated Rai lway Design Centre is proposed to be set up in

the NID cam pus w i t h an endowm ent fund of `10 cro re t o be u t i l i sed fo r

deve lop ing concep ts in va r ious a reas such as s ta t ion a rch i tec tu re ,

coach layou ts , luggage s to rage in coaches, to i le ts , t i cke t ing k iosks

and on l ine se rv ices , f re igh t se rv ice sys t ems e t c .

Spec ia l ised House-k eep ing Body

86. I am concerned and I am sure tha t so is the coun t ry tha t the

standards o f hyg iene and c lean l iness need to be improved


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substan t ia l l y . I am no t p repared to accep t the s i tua t ion as i t i s now

and a l l ou t e f fo r ts wou ld be made to improve the s tandards o f

c lean l iness and hyg iene on t ra ins and a t the s ta t ions w i th in the next

s ix m onths . Th is i s a ve ry spec ia l i sed ac t iv i ty w h ich c omes under the

core area o f House-keep ing. Ind ian Rai lways is duty bound to provide

h igh s tandards in bo th , as th is i s g iv ing a bad name t o the o t herw ise

e f f i c ien t ra i l sys tem. I p ropose to se t up a spec ia l i sed House-keep ing

body to t ake c a re o f bo th , i .e . s ta t ions and the t ra ins .

In i t ia t ives for d i f fe rent ly-ab led persons

87. Ind ian Ra i lw ays has a lw ays been a l i ve to i ts soc ia l respons ib i l it y

towards ensur ing comfor tab le t ra in journey for d i f fe rent ly-ab led

persons. Besides provid ing severa l t rave l concessions to such

persons, Ind ian Ra i lways has taken in i t ia t i ve to s ta r t manu fac tu r ingespec ia l l y des igned coaches hav ing earmarked compar tments and

to i le ts adapted to the needs o f wheel cha i r borne/d i f fe rent ly-ab led

person. Each d i f fe rent ly-ab led f r iend ly compartment provided in

spec i f ied coac hes has a berth ing c apac i ty fo r 4 passengers inc lud ing

tw o at t endan ts a long w i th to i le t and o ther amen i t ies . Ind ian Ra i lways

has so far manufactured about 2 ,100 specia l ly designed coaches. I t

w i l l be our endeavour to have one such coach in each ma i l /express

tra in . Besides, a l l Gar ib Rath rakes are provided wi th AC

com par tment s fo r d i f fe ren t ly -ab led persons in the power ca rs . Ef fo r tsa re be ing made t o ensure ease o f acc ess to p la t fo rm s and o ther a reas

at s t a t ions for d i f fe rent ly-ab led persons.

Cater ing Po l ic y

88. Given the fac t tha t ca te r ing is a passenger se rv ice , the re is an

urgen t need to rede f ine ra i lways approach towards ca te r ing and to

address demands o f the ent i re spectrum of passengers. The need for

v is ib le improvements in the se rv ice th rough pan t ry ca rs and base

k i tchens is a p r io r i ty s ince expecta t ions o f young Ind ia a re h igh andthey expect se rv ices espec ia l l y on p remium t ra ins , to be o f

in te rna t iona l s t andards.

89. I t he re fore p ropose t ha t repu ted p ro fess ional agenc ies w h ich a re

provid ing such serv ices in ternat iona l ly be engaged through g loba l

tenders fo r pan t ry ca rs and base k i tchens under depar tmenta l

superv is ion and m anagement . By engaging suc h spec ia l ised

in ternat iona l pro fessiona ls, a benchmark sha l l be set fo r

modern isa t ion and upgrada t ion . A p i lo t p ro jec t w i l l be launched on a


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few p remium t ra ins to in t roduce in te rna t iona l exper t i se on Ind ian

Ra i lways fo r c a te r ing se rv ices .

High Speed In i t ia t ives

90. Madam, we had decided to construct H igh Speed Passenger Rai l

corr idors in the country for runn ing t ra ins a t speed o f 250-350 kmph.

As decided ear l ie r , p re-feasib i l i ty s t ud ies on s ix c orr idors have a l ready

been tak en up. One more corr idor to be stud ied th is year is De lh i -

J a ipur-A jmer-J odhpur. Study o f Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad c orr idor has

been comp le ted and w e a re w ork ing on f ina l isa t ion o f f inanc ing o f th is

pro jec t . Governm ent o f Kera la is a lso pursu ing a h igh speed corr idor

betw een Th i ruvananthapuram t o Kasargod. Nat iona l H igh Speed Rai l

Au thor i ty i s under fo rmat ion . However , the h igh speed co r r ido rs a re

h igh ly cap i ta l in tensive and resource issues need to be addressedwi th innova t ive fund ing mechan ism and s ign i f i can t government

support to mak e them a rea l i ty . The coopera t ion o f s ta te

governments i s a p recond i t ion to the success o f h igh speed ra i l

in i t ia t i ves .

Green In i t ia t iv es

91. Madam, i t i s we l l known tha t ra i lways a re ex t reme ly

env i ronment f r iend ly and we a re commi t ted to p ro tec t ou r

envi ronment . The year 2011-12 was declared as the Year o f GreenEnergy by Rai lways. Severa l measures in i t ia ted/proposed to be

in i t ia ted t o p romote c lean env i ronment a re :-

i . Set t ing up o f 72 MW capac i ty w indmi l l p lan ts in the w ind r i ch

areas o f Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kera la , Tami l Nadu and

West Bengal ;

i i . Set t ing up o f 200 remote ra i lway s ta t ions as Green Energy

Sta t ions pow ered en t i re ly by so la r energy;

i i i . Provid ing so lar l igh t ing system at 1000 manned leve l crossing

ga tes in non-e lec t r i f ied te r r i to ry to improve i l lumina t ion andenhance sa fe ty o f road users .

iv . In t roduct ion o f mob i le emiss ion tes t ca r to measure po l lu t ion

leve l o f d iese l locomot ives ;

v . Commission ing o f two b io-d iese l p lants in 2012-13 a t Ra ipur

and Tondiarpet ;

v i . Acceptance o f SMS on mobi le phones as proof o f va l id

reservat ion, thus saving paper; and


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vi i . In t roduct ion o f a Green Tra in (w i th low emiss ions d iese l

locom ot ive and coac h ing stoc k w i th b io -to i le ts ) to run th rough

the p r is t ine fo res ts o f no r th Benga l .

Green To i le t s

92. Madam, the prob lem of envi ronmenta l degradat ion and corrosion

o f t racks due to n igh t so i l has been engag ing the a t ten t ion o f the

ra i lways fo r a long t im e . The ra i l c o r ros ion costs ra i lways more than

`350 cro re every year . As also po in ted ou t by bo th Kak odkar and

P i t roda Commi t tees, the re is an u rgen t need to rep lace the

conven t iona l open-d ischarge to i le ts w i th Green To ile ts w i th a v iew to

having c leaner , hyg ien ic and safer ra i lw ay ecos yst em. The DRDO

deve loped b io - to i le ts a re cu r ren t ly under ex tended t r ia l to tes t the i r

e f f i cacy and su i tab i l i t y . In the next year , 2 ,500 coaches w i l l beequ ipped w i t h these bio -to i le ts . T r ia ls w i th re ten t ion -evacua t ion type

to i le ts such as vacuum to i le ts a re a lso p lanned on a few p remium

tra ins . Based on exper ience , more number of coaches wou ld be

equ ipped w i t h such g reen to i le ts .

Sports

93. Madam, Ind ian Rai lways has been a lead ing patron o f spor ts in

the coun t ry . I t p rov ides emp loyment to m ore than a thousand eminen t

spor ts-persons every year ; par t ic ipates in 55 nat iona l championsh ipsand is present ly the ho lder o f 29 nat iona l t i t les. Seven o f our

spor tspersons have been honoured wi th Ar juna Award and Major

Dhyan Chand Award in 2011. I am proud to in form the Honb le

Members that f ive ra i lway spor t -persons have a lso qua l i f ied for

O lymp ics 2012 . Spor ts has now come to acqu i re the s ta tus o f a

ma ins t ream act iv i ty , i t s so f t power be ing recogn ised un ive rsa l l y

cons ider ing tha t i t impacts na t iona l mood , a f fec ts we l lness and

con t r ibu tes to the p res t ige and honour o f the na t ion . I p ropose to

deve lop a road map fo r Ra i lway Spor ts tha t fac i l i ta tes c rea t ion o f ana tm osphere t ha t nu r tu res ex ce l lence , p rov ides t he spor ts -persons the

r igh t leve rage to exce l and equ ips them w i th the necessary too ls to

ach ieve success. The Ra i lway Spor ts Promot ion Board wou ld be

prov ided the necessary w herewi t ha l to admin is te r p romot ion o f spor ts

in a h igh ly pro fessiona l manner for ensur ing even bet ter per formance

by ra i lway spor ts -persons. I a lso in tend t o rev iew the en t i re sys tems,

governance s t ruc tu res and po l i c ies re la t ing to spor ts so tha t the

dominant leadersh ip posi t ion o f Ra i lways is fu r ther enhanced. To

beg in w i th , I in tend to ins t i t u te a Ra i l Khe l Ra tna Aw ard tha t w ou ld be


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given to 10 spor ts-persons every year , based on the i r current

per fo rmanc e . The awardees w ou ld be p rov ided wor ld c lass t ra in ing to

hone the i r sk i l l s fu r the r .

Sta f f Am en i t ies

94. I have a l ready in fo rmed the House abou t quan tum jump in the

a l loca t ion fo r ac t iv i t ies re la ted to s ta f f we l fa re . Ra i lway is a 24x7

serv ice ava i lab le to the ra i l -users. To run serv ices a t th is sca le , the

emp loyees have to pu t in long hours o f du ty w i thou t any resp i te round

the year and the compu ls ion o f job c rea tes h igh s t ress leve ls . I

the re fo re in tend to in t roduce a we l lness p rogramme fo r them a t the i r

work p laces fo r ea r ly de tec t ion o f r i sk fac to rs , p reven t ion and ear ly

t reatment o f d iseases caused due to h igh b lood pressure and sugar

leve ls , obes i ty and o ther l i fes ty le re la t ed a i lmen ts .

95. We need to rec ogn ise the ded ica t ion , ha rd w ork and sacr i f i c e o f

the s ta f f a t a l l leve ls. To min im ise inc idence o f human e r ro r

espec ia l l y amongst the sk i l led and techn ica l s ta f f inc lud ing loco

p i lo ts , cab in men and gangmen, i t i s impor tan t to ensure p roper res t

per iod fo r them. I am a lso consc ious o f the impor tanc e o f pe r iod ic

t ra in ing and crea t ion o f a genera l env i ronment to p rov ide them

enhanced d ign i ty . I have a lso requested NID to design appropr ia te

ou t f i t s fo r va r ious ca t egor ies o f work fo rce .

Indust r ia l Re la t ions

96. Madam, I have a f i rm be l ie f in democra t ic p rocess o f dec is ion

making and have had regu la r consu l ta t ions w i th the s ta f f federa t ions

on severa l organ isat iona l issues. The ra i lw ay federat ions are

ext reme ly respons ible and work in the best in te res ts o f the ra i lways. I

ass ign h ighest impor tance to con t inuance o f hea l thy and harmon ious

t rad i t ion o f indust r ia l re la t ions across leng th and b read th o f Ind ian

Ra i lways. In recogn i t ion of the com mi t ment o f the emp loyees to theorgan isa t ion and the i r con t r ibu t ion to increas ing the p roduct iv i ty ,

Ind ian Ra i lways pa id the Product iv i ty L inked Bonus equ iva len t to

w ages o f 78 days for 2010-11.

Recru i tmen t

97. Madam Speaker , over the years, Ra i lways had come to have

la rge number o f vacanc ies in va r ious c a tegor ies o f s ta f f , inc lud ing in

tec hn ica l and sa fe ty re la ted a reas. These have an adverse impac t on

opera t ional and sa fe ty pe r fo rmance o f t he o rgan isa t ion . I am happy to


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in form that dur ing the year 2011-12 we have recru i ted over 80,000

persons to f i l l up some of such vacanc ies. Dur ing 2012-13, more t han

one lakh persons are proposed to be recru i ted. Wi th these

recru i tmen ts , Ind ian Ra i lways w i l l a lso be w ip ing ou t the back log

vacancies o f SC/ST/OBC and physica l ly cha l lenged persons and

com ply ing w i th the ins t ruc t ions o f DOP& T.

Rai lw ay PSUs

98. Madam, I fee l ex t reme ly happy to in fo rm the House tha t a l l the

11 Pub l ic Secto r Under tak ings o f the Ra i lways per fo rmed ex t reme ly

we l l w i th a hea l thy g rowth in to ta l d iv idend pa id by them. Var ious

impor tan t con t rac ts have been bagged by the Ra i lways PSUs in the

ne ighbour ing c oun t r ies fo r c onst ruc t ions /rehab il i ta t ion o f ra i lw ay l ines

and for supp ly o f ro l l ing stoc k . The d iv idend pa id in 2010-11 amount edt o `429 cro re w h ich w as more by 31% than the p rev ious f isca l .

Product ion Un i ts

99. Madam, Rai lways Product ion Uni ts provide th is organ isat ion a

susta ined supp ly o f ro l l ing s tock . I p ropose to modern ise p roduct ion

un i ts w i th s ta t e -o f -a r t tec hno logy. Through con t inued innova t ions and

improv isa t ions, i t has been poss ib le to induct la tes t t echno log ies li ke

IGBT based 3-phase eng ines for loc omot ives, Sta in les s Stee l Coaches,

a i r cond i t ioned Metro Cars e tc. DLW has been ab le to manufacturerthe p ro to t ype o f the nex t generat ion WDG-5 locom ot ives w i th a 5500

High Horsepower Power pac k w i th ind igenous des ign e f fo r ts .

100. Rai l Coach Fact ory, Kapurtha la , th rough i t s e f for t s has been ab le

to deve lop non-AC vers ion o f such coaches to bene f i t the common

man by p rov id ing h im be t te r in te r io rs , improved r id ing comfor t and

s ign i f i can t ly enhanced sa fe ty fea tu res . I t i s fu r the r p roposed to

manufac t u re tw o AC Doub le Deck er rakes com pr is ing LHB coaches. I

in tend to s t reaml ine the p roduct ion p rocess fu r the r th rough a longte rm p roduct ion p lan tha t w ou ld lead to be t te r inven to ry management

and fac i l i ta te induct ion o f more energy e f f i c ien t and cu t t ing edge

tec hno logy in a p lanned manner .

E-proc urement and e-auc t ion

101. Ind ian Ra i lw ays have a h igh ly p ro fess iona l p rocurement p ro toco l

and a cod i f ied and t ransparen t sys tem o f dec is ion mak ing to p rocure

the requ i red p roducts a t reasonab le p r ices . Ye t the re is scope fo r

fu r the r improvement . To p rov ide fu r the r t ransparency and e f f i c iency t o


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the p rocurement p rocess, the sys tem o f e -p rocurement has been

imp lemented fo r pu rchase o f s to res in the Zona l Ra i lways

Headquarters and product ion un i ts . These in i t ia t ives are be ing

expanded fu r the r fo r inc lud ing the f ie ld un i ts w i th in the amb i t o f th is

p rocess. Feas ib i l i t y o f inc lud ing works tenders a lso w i th in the amb i t

o f e-procurem ent is be ing exp lored. In add i t ion to th is , a p i lo t p ro ject

fo r e -auct ion o f sa le o f scrap has been successfu l l y conducted on

Nor thern Ra i lw ay and th is w ou ld be expanded and ro l led out on o ther

un i ts dur ing 2012-13, thereby considerab ly improving t ransparency,

e f f i c iency and w ider reach fo r th is impor tan t ac t iv i ty .

Rest ruc t u r ing o f Rai lw ay Board

102. Madam, I take im mense p r ide in in forming t he august House tha t

my ra i lway fami ly i s ex t reme ly commi t ted , p ro fess iona l and fu l l ycapab le o f de l i ve r ing the des i red resu l ts . I t i s a d ream organ isa t ion to

w ork fo r t he young generat ion and p rov ides exce l len t job sa t is fac t ion .

Th is ta len t -r i ch o rganisa t ion o f a lmost 14 lakh em p loyees inc ludes t he

best bra ins f rom I ITs, I IMs, Medica l Co l leges and o ther pro fessiona l

ins t i tu tes . Wh i le i t has made ou ts tand ing con t r ibu t ion in na t ion

bu i ld ing , I fee l the cu r ren t s t ruc tu re needs to be a l te red to meet the

cha l lenges o f chang ing t imes. Th is vas t o rgan isa t ion has pocke ts o f

bo th exce l lence and anachron ism. The Board shou ld be s t ruc tu red

a long bus iness l ines ra ther than on funct iona l l ines in sync w i thcorpora te ob jec t ives .

103. I have to fo r t i f y the Ind ian Ra i lways t o mak e i t respons ive to the

chang ing economic scenar io and equ ip i t to leve rage upon the new

oppor tun i t ies . There is a lso a need to in fuse la rger acc oun tab i l i t y and

i ts s t ruc tu re must be a l igned w i th o rganisa t iona l ob jec t ives . We need

a sys tem tha t de l i vers . The issue needs to be deba ted and d iscussed

w i th Board and Rai l Par ivar .

104. My cha l lenge is to mak e a Ra i lway sys t em w h ich is Sa fe , Modern

and Ef f ic ient . Madam, the requ i rement o f resources for ra i l

in f ras t ruc tu re is ex t reme ly h igh and in o rder to p rov ide a th rus t to

Rai lways e f for ts a t mobi l is ing add i t iona l revenues, I have decided to

induc

railway budget - 2012 -13 speech

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