News

Industry hails rail ministry decision to spare freight rates
Welcoming the Union Railway Budget presented on Friday, major chambers of industry complimented the minister Nitish Kumar for not raising the freight rates. This signals the efforts by the railways to put an end to the cross-subsidisation of the passenger traffic at the cost of freight earnings, Sudhir Jalan, senior vice president of the FICCi said. The railway minister's emphasis on improvement of the share of freight traffic which accounts for a overwhelming portion of the railways revenue is particularly welcome, the CII said. Maintaining the freight rates broadly at the previous levels while giving some relief to certain industries like steel which have been hit by recession and offer bulk traffic movements are significant steps in the right direction and would help ease the pressure on the industry to some extent in these difficult times, the CII said. While appreciating the issues raised by the railway minister such as declining budgetary support to railway's development plans, shortfall in railway share in the total freight traffic and difficulties in generating international revenue, the Assocham president, L Lakshman said, most of these problems can be overcome by evolving new instruments of financing, improving efficiency and by corporatisation and finally privatising a number of functions at present carried by the railways.