The months between April and December 2010, the Indian Railways has spent more to earn less. Their operating ratios have been more than 100, a cause of concern for the railway authorities.
On an average, the Indian railways spent approximately Rs 115 to earn Rs 100.
Indian Express reports that the operating ratios of Indian Railways witnessed an alarming increase in the first 9 months of current fiscal.
Decreased passengers and decreased freight are being stated as the problems for such an increase in expenditures vis-a-vis revenue.
Also the targets set by Railways were also to achieve operating ratio of above 100, which bloated even more than anticipated.
With the Railways in red, Mamatha Banerjee would be looking to pull off a decent railway budget on Friday.
The Hindu reports
“If her (Mamata Banerjee’s) critics are to be believed, is to blame, to some extent, for putting the Railways in a difficult situation. The balance sheet had gone astray in 2009-10 itself, but few corrective measures seem to have been initiated.
The committee has failed to rope in the private sector and mobilise resources for projects, while the other public-private participation initiatives — establishing world-class stations and manufacture of locomotive, coaches and wagon at Kanchrapara and Dankuni in West Bengal — have not made any progress worth the name…
Ms. Banerjee has not been able to find the resources needed to finance the proposed projects. Finance Minister and the Planning Commission have not found the kind of favour she would have expected: only a marginal increase in the budgetary support has been promised.”
With all this, will it would be interesting to see whether the Railway Budget would be saving grace or otherwise.
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