The Indian Railways will invest Rs 41,426 crore in 2010-11 for sprucing up its network,and over a third of the planned outlay would go towards manufacturing coaches. In the Railway Budget presented in Parliament on Wednesday,Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee earmarked Rs 13,140 crore for rolling stock,but the money for coach making is lesser than last years allocation of Rs 13,352.49 crore. Overall investments are nearly three per cent higher than last years outlay. The worlds fifth largest rail network,after US,Russia,Canada and China,will also invest Rs 4,361.90 crore in the next fiscal for construction of new lines,marking an increase of 30.58 per cent from 2009-10. It will also pump in Rs 5,000 crore on track renewals in the upcoming fiscal,an increase of Rs 707 crore from 2009-10. However,spending on gauge conversion in the coming fiscal has been cut down drastically to Rs 1,635 crore from Rs 3,156.22 crore in the ongoing fiscal. Doubling of rail lines has also been allocated lesser funds at Rs 1,833.9 crore from Rs 2,015.67 crore. In its endeavour to cut down mishaps,the minister earmarked Rs 1,124.20 crore for signal and telecommunication works,up from Rs 1,003.58 crore in the ongoing fiscal. Besides,Rs 1,000 crore will be spent on road safety works. Banerjee,who announced setting up of a Centre for Railway Research at IIT,Kharagpur,however,set aside just Rs 78 crore for research. But it is an improvement from Rs 41.19 crore in 2009-10. The largest employer in the country will be spending Rs 250.5 crore on staff quarters and another Rs 342.5 crore on amenities for staff during the fiscal 2010-11. As for improving facilities provided to passengers,the Railways will invest Rs 1,302.5 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs 922.91 crore in 2009-10. It will also invest Rs 1,478.5 crore on workshops,including production units,during the fiscal and Rs 2,787 crore has been allocated for repayment of capital on leased assets. The Railways,which plans to set up mobile e-ticketing centres at hospitals,universities,courts,IITs,IIMs,district headquarters and village panchayats,will invest Rs 337 crore on computerisation.
