 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tuesday
27 February 2001
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mahajot Budget turns into Mahaflop
MAHAFLOP instead of Mahajot. Railway minister Mamata Banerjee presented a populist Budget with returns to investment of hardly 4 per cent against borrowings carrying up to 11 per cent interest, heading happily into a debt trap.
|
Railway Budget 2001-02 Highlights
| FOLLOWING are the highlights of the Union Railway Budget 2001-02 tabled in Parliament on Monday: |
Chambers upset with freight hike, lack of reforms
| THE Railway Budget 2001-02 is not what the chambers had expected. It seems that the budgetary measures announced by the railway minister have upset all calculations for a possible revival of industrial production in the 2001-02 fiscal as envisaged by the chambers. |
2% freight hike: A mine for imported grade coal
| 
A 2 per cent increase in railway freight for coal along with another 1 per cent ‘congestion surcharge’ will make it that much easier for imported grade coal to make in-roads in certain markets in the country. Quick back-of-the pack calculations show that up-country coal consumers in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana will have to bear an additional Rs 50-70 freight charges.
|
Exemption of oil, sugar from hike of little consequence
| IF THE railway minister had thought that she had done the edible oil and sugar sectors a great favour by exempting them from the purview of the freight hike, she was mistaken. Both these sectors could not in fact care less about the sops given because they are only very small users of the Railways. |
Deferred dividend conceals Rs 169-cr deficit for ’01-02
| 
FOR the second year running, the Railways has used a thin veil to conceal a deficit -— deferred dividend. Had the Rail Budget for 2001-02 not worked in a Rs 1,000-crore deferment on this account, it would have projected a Rs 169-crore deficit.
|
Rs 1,000-cr target for broadband lease off track
| 
THE INDIAN Railways is unlikely to meet the Rs 1,000-crore target for revenue from leasing right of way to broadband internet service providers.
|
All’s fare till Assembly polls
| 
THIS looks like the proverbial lull before the storm. Passengers celebrating Mamata's hike-spike may have to wait only till after the West Bengal Assembly polls before being forced to shell out more for a ticket to ride.
|
Cement-makers may pass on hike to consumers
| 
MAMATADI’S large-hearted Railway Budget on Monday has spared the cement industry. The 3 per cent hike in freight charges coupled with a 2 per cent freight increase on coal and 1 per cent on oil (furnace oil) will have a marginal impact of Rs 20-22 a tonne.
|
Rolling stock offtake to be maintained
| FOR the wagon industry, reconciled to being saddled with idle capacity, even stagnating orders from the Railways is a solace. |
Where the Rly rupee comes; where the rupee goes
| NEARLY half of the every rupee earned by the Indian Railways is consumed by its employees in the form of salaries and other dues whereas a meagre 1 paise is spent on development works. |
HRC to cost Rs 500/t more
| DOMESTIC steel companies will raise prices of hot-rolled coils by Rs 500 per tonne from March, following the hike in freight rates announced in the rail budget on Monday. The increase in price is actually a combination of higher international HRC prices and the increased freight. |
Steel companies pricked, cement industry spared
| DOMESTIC steel industry, on the recovery trail after months, is somewhat pricked by a 2-per cent hike in railway freight. |
Arrival delayed: Fare hike may follow Bengal polls
| PASSENGERS celebrating Mamata’s hike-spike may have to wait only till after the West Bengal Assembly polls before being forced to shell out more. A mid-course review of the fare structure is not being ruled out by Rail Bhawan bosses. A fare hike, like the rest of Indian Railways looks like the anticipated 'delayed arrival'. |
Carmakers won’t suffer
| WILL Mamata’s freight revisions impact the automobile industry? The Railway Budget’s proposed 2 per cent freight increase on iron and steel and 3 per cent across-the-board adjustment of freight rates will not have much of an impact on passenger carmakers since most of the steel plates used by auto MNCs are imported. |
No provision for Mumbai local services
| THIS year too, the Mamata Express whizzed by Mumbai station without stopping. The railway minister has left Mumbai commuters high and dry without any provision for the Rs 6,300-crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project, MUTP-II, that has been on the drawing board for over four years. |
Industry wants cross-subsidy to end
| THE RAILWAY Budget presented by the Union railway minister Mamata Banrjee is moderately inflationary. |
Railways will not be privatised: Mamata
| THE RAILWAYS would not be privatised, said railway minister Mamata Banerjee in the Lok Sabha on Monday. |
Opposition terms Railway Budget 'populist'
| THE OPPOSITION on Monday slammed the Railway Budget 2001-02 terming it as "populist", and as having "an eye on the coming Assembly elections", especially in West Bengal. |
24 new express trains to be introduced
| AS MANY as 24 new trains, including New Delhi-Raipur-Bilaspur Rajdhani Express and New Delhi-Ranchi-Hatia Rajdhani Express, will be introduced in the coming fiscal. |
ATMs for issuing tickets mooted
| ISSUING of tickets through the automatic teller machines at major railway stations will be a reality soon, according to the Railway Budget proposals for 2001-02. |
Rlys set to achieve loading target of 475m tonnes
| THE RAILWAYS was set to achieve a loading target of 475 million tonnes in the year 2000-01, railway minister Mamata Banerjee said in her budget for the next year. | | | ||
| ||
 | ||
 | ||
 |
