Rlys in funds crunch,seeks MoF bailout

The Railway Ministry sent a letter to MoF about a fortnight back seeking financial help.

“We need this money for further expansion and growth. Our future plans are being hit by this money crunch. We have sent a proposal to the Finance Ministry,they will now examine the proposal and the amount to be doled out will be settled down later,” said the official.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has expressed his disapproval to increase fares to ride over the financial crisis and has insisted on public private partnership (PPP) for modernisation projects. “It is very easy to increase the fare but we have to think out-of-the-box. Fare hike is the easiest thing to do and I do not think we should have easy options,” Trivedi said at a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) last week.

The Railways has not increased passenger fares in the past one decade and there was a demand for fare hike from different quarters of the department including labour unions.

Officials said of the Rs 60,000 crore allotted to the ministry,almost Rs 55,000 crore was disbursed in paying arrears.

The officials added that coal and iron ore were the mainstay of the Railways and this year a huge dip in their extraction has led to a negative effect in their (ministry’s) balance.

“Heavy rains in coalfields in eastern India ensured there was no extraction for many days together and it affected the earnings. The stoppage of trains during night hours in Naxalite affected areas has also hit us badly. There is no movement of commodities for hours together. Moreover the economic slowdown has also affected our exports. We will be able to operate smoothly but we won’t be able to take up new projects or modernise the railway stocks in the near future without the money,” said the officials.

Dent in Balances

* Payment of sixth pay panel arrears

* Crackdown on Karnataka iron ore mines

* Rains affecting work in eastern coalfields

* Stopping night services in Naxal-hit areas