Railway Budget 2012 should focus on adding more to rail infrastructure: Indresh Batra, Jindal ITF

Indresh Batra, Chairman, Jindal ITF is of the opinion that the Railway Budget 2012-13 should consider speedy execution of the projects announced in last couple of years. The Railway Budget for 2012 will be presented by Railway Minister, Dinesh Trivedi on the March 14.

According to Batra, the Railway budget should focus more on adding to the rail infrastructure. "Work on the dedicated freight lines should be accelerated to avoid congestion on the operative routes," he said.

Batra also feels that Railway's share in the freight segment is sliding and should be addressed immediately. Railways have increased the freight rate in all commodities including foodgrains, fertiliser, cement, coal, and petroleum products ahead of Rail Budget. With the latest freight hike across the board, Railways aims to earn between Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore in the next fiscal.

Batra in his Railway Budget expectations has emphasised on the urgent requirement for capacity augmentation in rakes, wagons and racks. He also opines that it should be substantially increased to cater to the increasing demand.

"There is a need for better designed wagons and rakes. Railway has to be more receptive to the ideas of the industry so as to encourage the industry to invest in PPP model," he said.

Batra wants the Railway Budget to also focus on modernization of rail network which includes automation of signaling system, strengthening of track and procurement of modern rolling stock. He has advocated a casee for some kind of duty rationalization in rail freight charges to give a boost to the industry.