Indian Railways in sound financial health, says minister Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Indian Railways’ financials are in good condition with continuous improvement efforts underway, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

During a debate on the working of the Railways Ministry, Vaishnaw noted that the national transporter has successfully overcome pandemic-related challenges, with passengers returning to train travel and both passenger and cargo traffic showing growth.

During 2023-24, Indian Railways reported a revenue of approximately ₹2,78,000 crore against expenses of ₹2,75,000 crore. Major expenditure components include staff costs ( ₹1,16,000 crore), pension payments ( ₹66,000 crore), energy expenses ( ₹32,000 crore), and financing costs ( ₹25,000 crore).

“Railways is fulfilling its expenses from its own income because of good performance. …Overall, the financial condition is good and we are trying to improve it on constant basis,” Vaishnaw stated.

The minister highlighted that Railways subsidises passenger fares while generating revenue from cargo and freight operations.

While the actual cost per kilometer stands at ₹1.38, passengers are charged only 72 paise, resulting in a total passenger subsidy of approximately ₹57,000 crore for 2023-24.

Vaishnaw emphasised that Indian train fares remain the lowest compared to neighbouring countries.

“If you look at a journey of 350 km, ₹121 is the fare of general class in India, ₹400 in Pakistan, ₹413 in Sri Lanka. This is the same in almost all categories,” he noted, adding that fares have remained unchanged since 2020.

Energy costs have “stabilized” at ₹30,000-32,000 crore, with the railways financially benefiting from electrification initiatives implemented after 2019.

The minister also outlined several achievements, including increased passenger and cargo traffic.

By March 31 this year, Indian Railways is projected to rank among the world’s top three countries in cargo carrying capacity at 1.6 billion tonnes, behind only China and the United States.

Other notable accomplishments include replacement of about 50,000 km of tracks, construction of more than 12,000 underpasses and flyovers, rebuilding of 14,000 bridges, and manufacturing of 41,000 Linke-Hofmann-Busch coaches (LHC).

“In the third term, Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coaches will be replaced with LHC coaches,” Vaishnaw added.

The minister announced that approximately 1,400 locomotives will be manufactured this year, and noted that India has begun exporting metro coaches.