Lok Sabha Question No. 5287 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-05
Subject: Increase in Railway Revenue
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5287 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.04.2017

## INCREASE IN RAILWAY REVENUE

† 5287. PROF. PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :

- (a) whether it is necessary to increase the revenue of the Railways in the year 2017-18;
- (b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether  the Government  proposes  to  expand  freight sector to augment the revenue of Railways;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  whether  the  Government  has  prepared any action plan to increase freight charges; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

- (a) to (e) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5287 BY PROF. PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA  TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 05.04.2017 REGARDING INCREASE IN RAILWAY REVENUE

- (a) Yes, Madam. Railways need increased revenue in 2017-18 not only to meet higher revenue expenditure assessed in Budget Estimates 2017-18 but also to have surplus so as to supplement Railways' capital expenditure from internal resources.
- (b) Accordingly, a 9.8% increase in Gross Traffic Receipts of Railways has been targeted in Budget Estimates 2017-18.
- (c)  to  (e)  Yes,  Madam.  In  order  to  increase  the  revenue  earnings  in  freight transportation  and  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  freight  traffic  specially  for non-conventional  traffic  in  high  capacity  and  special  purpose  wagons, following schemes have been introduced for procurement of rakes for freight transportation by inviting private investment through partnerships:
-  Liberalized  Wagon  Investment  Scheme  :  So  far,  out  of  68  rakes  for  which approval for procurement has been accorded to various customers, 32 rakes have been procured/inducted and are running in the system.
-  Wagon  Leasing  Scheme  :  Two  Companies  have  been  registered  under  the scheme as Wagon Leasing Companies who have procured 12 rakes of BLC wagons and 1 BTAP rake. Approval for 4 new BLC, 1 BTAP and 6 BFNS(22.9t axle load) rakes have been accorded.
-  Special  Freight  Train  Operators  Scheme  :  So  far,  3  rakes  of  BRNA  wagons have been inducted and approval for procurement of 3 rakes of BFNS(22.9t axle load)  has been given.
-  Automobile Freight Train Operators(AFTO) Scheme : License has been given to two companies to work as AFTO and they have procured 9 rakes till date. Further, to facilitate rapid development of a network of freight terminals with private  investment,  to  provide  efficient  and  cost  effective  logistic  services with  warehousing  solution  to  end  users,  a  scheme  namely  Private  Freight Terminal (PFT) has been introduced. So far, 94 proposals have been received under  the  scheme  out  of  which  47  terminals  have  been  notified  and  are functional.

Regular interactions are held with stakeholders of the main bulk commodities carried by the Railways so as to meet the requirement of the industry.

The  Government  has  initiated  various  freight  rationalization  measures  to increase freight revenue. Some of these steps are as under :-

- (i) Withdrawal of Port Congestion Charge from 13.04.2016.
- (ii) Extension  of  Automatic  Freight  Rebate  scheme  for  traffic  loaded  in empty flow direction upto 31.03.2018.
- (iii) Withdrawal of dual freight policy for iron ore w.e.f. 10.05.2016.
- (iv) Re-introduction  of  short  lead  concession  and  reduction  of  minimum distance for charge from 125 km to 100 km w.e.f. 15.07.2016.
- (v) Rationalisation of Coal Traffic has been done with reduction in freight for long lead power houses w.e.f. 22.08.2016.
- (vi) BCN  group  permitted  for  two  point  booking  and  mini  rake  w.e.f. 15.03.2016.
- (vii) Distance  for  mini  rake  increased  from  400  km  to  600  km  w.e.f. 15.03.2016.
- (viii) A liberalized policy with delegation of  power  to  Zonal  Railways introduced for two point booking of covered wagons in which any two stations within a distance of 200 km in busy season and 400 km in lean season have been permitted for two point booking w.e.f. 22.07.2016.
- (ix) Rationalisation  of  Merry-Go-Round  (MGR)  system  w.e.f.  01.04.2016, which has led to reduction in freight rate to the extent of 80% .
- (x) Proliferation  of  Roll-on  Roll-off  (RORO)  service  launch  on  East  Central Railway from 25.05.2016 and subsequently on other Zonal Railways.
- (xi) Permission to notify Group I and Group II station/goods sheds as CRTs for lift on-lift off operations w.e.f. 12.07.2016.
- (xii) Charging  of  commodities  for  transportation  by  containers  has  been liberalized.  43  additional  commodities  de-notified  for  charging  at  FAK rates w.e.f. 02.09.2016.
- (xiii) Guidelines for Station to Station Rate policy issued on 29.09.2016.
- (xiv) Class of various commodities have been rationalized and new commodities have been added in Goods Tariff.
- (xv) Instruction  for  movement  of  HSD  Oil  in  BTPN  rates  from  Numaligarh refinery siding (NRSR) to Parbatipur, Bangladesh has been issued w.e.f. 13.03.2016.
- (xvi) The system of transportation to Bangladesh through 'Dump' and 'load adjustment' has been discontinued.
- (xvii) Withdrawal  of  levy  of  congestion  charge  for  stone  traffic  transported from Eastern Railway to Bangladesh via Darsana/Benapole.
- (xviii) Weighment  of  Standard  Bagged  consignment  policy  has  been rationalized.
- (xix) Discount  on  loading  of  bagged  consignment  in  open  and  flat  wagons w.e.f. 24.10.2016.
- (xx) Policy on Long Term Contracts with key freight customers launched.
- (xxi) Besides following measures are being planned for 2017-18:
- a) New  delivery  models  like -Running  of  double  stack  dwarf container under-wire.
- b) Expansion of freight basket.

Evaluation  of  various  alternatives  relating  to  rationalization  of  freight structure is an on-going process.

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