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, Mr Vaishnaw noted that the national transporter has overcome Covid-related challenges and recovered the losses, with passengers returning to train travel and both passenger and cargo traffic showing growth.
During 2023-24, Indian Railways reported a revenue of approximately Rs 2.78 lakh crore against expenses of Rs 2.75 lakh crore. Major expenditure components include staff costs (Rs 1.16 lakh crore), pension payments (Rs 66,000 crore), energy expenses (Rs 32,000 crore), and financing costs (Rs 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," Mr 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 Rs 1.38, passengers are charged only 73 paise, resulting in a total passenger subsidy of approximately Rs 57,000 crore for 2023-24.
Mr Vaishnaw emphasised that Indian train fares remain the lowest compared to neighbouring countries.
"If you look at a journey of 350 km, Rs 121 is the fare of general class in India, Rs 400 in Pakistan, Rs 413 in Sri Lanka. This is the same in almost all categories," he noted, adding that fares have remained unchanged since 2020.
In spite of the rise in fuel prices, wage costs due to implementation of Seventh Pay commission, we have not hiked the fares since 2020 and have tried to offset it with cargo income, he said.
"The financial condition of Railways is more or less recovered since the COVID-19 slump," Mr Vaishnaw said.
Energy costs have "stabilized" at Rs 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," Mr Vaishnaw added.
The minister said that this year 1,400 locomotives are being produced in India, which is more than the combined production of America and Europe. This is a big achievement. Also, about 2 lakh new wagons have been added to the entire fleet of Indian Railways.
Indian railway passenger coaches are being sent to Mozambique, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while locomotives are being exported to Mozambique, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Today, the under-frame of the bogie is being exported to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia and other countries. The important part of the power train, propulsion, is being exported to France, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Romania and Italy.
Mr Vaishnaw said there is a laser-sharp focus on railway safety. Many technical changes have been made. Longer rails, electronic interlocking, level-crossing gates, fog safety devices and 'Kavach' are being rolled out rapidly. Now more work is being done than ever before and the results of which are visible.
In 2025, the railway will also achieve Scope 1 Net Zero. The target of Scope 2 is by 2030, he said, adding that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted and the work done by the railway to benefit the environment will be completely offset.
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