The allocation towards the railway budget is expected to be around ₹ 1.70 lakh crore and the gross budgetary support for railways expected to be around ₹ 75,000 crore, rating agency Brickwork Ratings said in its report titled ‘BWR Pre-Budget Expectations FY22’. Along with the main allocation for Railway Budget 2021, the agency also expects that the allocation of safety fund for the railway network should be increased by 50 per cent from the current ₹ 20,000 crore to ₹ 30,000 crore per year, that will help in boosting the safety infrastructure. (Also Read: Budget 2021: Indian Railways To Seek Investment Of ₹ 30,000 Crore For Running Private Trains )

Railway Budget 2021 is expected to bring policy support for the operations of private trains, new train sets for faster connectivity on new routes, better rail connectivity to tourist and pilgrimage spots, expansion of railway infrastructure for better connectivity in northeastern states. According to the report, a greater allocation is also expected towards green energy initiative by Indian Railways. The expansion of Kisan Rail from the current Maharashtra-Bihar route to other areas of the country is likely to strengthen the cold supply chain of perishable agricultural produce.

As part of the national transporter’s first private investment initiative for operating passenger trains, the Railway Ministry had completed the process of evaluating applications for public-private partnership (PPP) in passenger train services. In this regard, Indian Railways seeks an investment of around ₹ 30,000 crore from private entities.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) will finalise the basis of allotment of its IPO shares today i.e. January 25, as per the tentative schedule available in the prospectus. The ₹ 4,633.4 crore IPO was open for bidding for 3 days between January 18 and January 20, thus becoming the first public issue in calendar year 2021.

The public issue of the dedicated market borrowing arm of Indian Railways comprised of a fresh issue of ₹ 3,088.9 crore and an offer for sale of ₹ 1,544 crore by the Government of India through Ministry of Railways.

The IPO was subscribed 3.49 times; the reserved portion of qualified institutional buyers witnessed a subscription of 3.78 times, non-institutional investors (2.67 times) and retail (3.66 times).

The state-owned entity will utilise the issue proceeds to augment its equity capital base to meet future requirements.

Here’s how to check the allotment status of IRFC initial public offering

• Access website of the registrar
• Select IPO (Indian Railway Finance Corporation)
• Select application number
• Select application type (ASBA or NON-ASBA)
• Enter Application Number.
• In case of DPID/Client ID, select depository (NSDL/CDSL), enter DPID and Client ID
• In case of PAN, enter PAN.
• Enter Captcha
• Click on Submit button

CommentsAccess BSE Website

• Select Issue Type (Equity)
• Select Issue Name (Indian Railway Finance Corporation)
• Enter Application Number and PAN
• Click on the ‘Search’ button

India is all set to adopt the European Train Control System (ETCS) in mainline railways for the very first time, with the country’s premier regional rapid rail coming up between Delhi and Meerut. French multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom won a contract worth €106 million to design, supply, and install the signalling, train control, and telecommunication system for the 82.15 km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut regional rapid transit system (RRTS) corridor. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation Ltd. (NCRTC), responsible for executing the RRTS project, awarded the contract to Alstom on January 20, 2021.

According to a statement released by Alstom, the European train control system hybrid level three signalling system will be adopted for the very first time in the country. The Delhi-Meerut semi-high-speed rail line will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Meerut to just 60 minutes, as compared to the current 90-100 minutes, and will run a maximum speed of 160 km per hour. Alstom’s scope of work in the project includes design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of signalling and train control, supervision, platform screen doors, and telecommunication systems for the corridor.

Meanwhile, the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut rapid rail corridor will consist of modern and indigenous ballastless track, suitable for supporting a high design speed of 180 km per hour and operational speed of 160 km per hour. Out of the 82 km long Delhi-Meerut rapid rail corridor, the 17 km-long Sahibabad-Duhai section has been targeted to be operational by the year 2023.

In the first phase of the regional rapid transit system coming up in the national capital region, the other priority corridors apart from Delhi-Meerut are Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar and Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat. The three RRTS corridors will converge at the Sarai Kale Khan station in Delhi. The interoperability of the main corridors will allow seamless commuter movement across corridors. 

Indian Railways has finalized the tender for design, manufacture, development, integration, supply, testing, and commissioning of IGBT-based three-phase propulsion, control, and other equipment for as many as for 44 rakes of Vande Bharat type train sets, with each consisting of 16 cars. According to a recent statement released by the Railway Ministry, the procurement includes a comprehensive annual maintenance contract of five years with the supplier. The specifications were prepared after multiple deliberations with the industry at various levels for manufacturing the train sets indigenously. For the first time, the tender required a minimum of 75 per cent local content requirement of the total value.

According to the Railway Ministry, three bidders participated in the tender for 44 rakes of Vande Bharat type train sets, and the lowest offer was from the indigenous manufacturer Medha Servo Drives Limited who met the minimum local content of 75 per cent of the total value. The tender for 44 rakes of 16 car each was finalised on Medha Servo Drives Limited for all-in cost of ₹ 2211,64,59,644.

These rakes will be produced at three production units of the railway network. 24 of the rakes at Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, 10 rakes will be produced at Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala and the remaining 10 rakes will be produced at Modern Coach Factory (MCF) in Raebareli. According to the Railway Ministry, the delivery schedule for the supply of these 44 Vande Bharat rakes is – first, two prototype rakes will be delivered in 20 months. Upon the successful commissioning of these rakes, the company will be delivering an average of six rakes per quarter.

Home First Finance’s initial public offering (IPO) opens for subscription today i.e. January 21. The public issue will close on January 25. This will be the third IPO in 2021 after the public offers by Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Indigo Paints. The shares of Home First Finance are likely to be listed on the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty on February 3.

Meanwhile, Indigo Paints IPO opened on the previous day i.e. January 21 and was subscribed by 1.90 times on the very first day of bidding.

Home First Finance’s ₹ 1,153.71-crore IPO comprises a fresh issue of ₹ 265 crore and an offer for sale of ₹ 888.72 crore by promoters and existing shareholders.

Investors can bid for a minimum one lot of 28 equity shares and in multiples up to 13 lots. The shares are being offered in the price band of ₹ 517-518 per share. A total of up to 50 per cent of the issue will be reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 35 per cent for the retail category and 15 per cent for non-institutional group.

Founded in 2010, Home First Finance is an affordable housing finance company that provides home loans to customers in the low and middle-income segments. It operates in 60 districts across 11 states and a Union Territory and had a sizeable presence in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Comments Axis Capital, Credit Suisse Securities (India), ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company are the book running lead managers to Home First Finance’s IPO. KFintech Private Limited is the registrar to the issue.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation’s initial public offer (IPO) opens for subscription today i.e. January 18. The IPO will be open until January 20 and the shares will be offered in the price band of Rs 25-26 per share. The shares will be listed on the bourses on January 29, 2021.

The IPO consists of sale of up to 178.20 crore shares, including a fresh issue of up to 118.80 crore and offer-for-sale of up to 59.40 crore shares by the government. IRFC will raise ₹ 4,633.38 crore at the higher range of the price band of ₹ 25-26 per share.

Investors can bid for a minimum one lot of 575 shares and in multiples up to 13 lots, amounting to 7,475 shares. The net proceeds from the share sale will be used by the company to meet its future capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.

DAM Capital Advisors, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), ICICI Securities and SBI Capital Markets are the book running lead managers to the public issue.

Incorporated in 1986, IRFC is the market borrowing arm of Indian Railways that finances purchase of rolling stock assets, leasing of railway infrastructure assets and lending to other entities under the Ministry of Railways.

Cooked food supply to passengers in trains under e-catering services, which were suspended as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19, will resume soon in the Eastern Railway (ER) zone, an official said in Kolkata on Sunday.

The e-catering services will be restarted soon at Howrah, Sealdah, Kolkata, Durgapur, Asansol, Malda and Bhagalpur stations under the jurisdiction of the ER, he said.

There are plans to add Barddhaman, Bolpur and Jamalpur in the list of stations from where the e-catering services are provided, the ER spokesperson said.

With the resumption of several long-distance and special trains, there was a growing demand to resume the services for supplying “hot, healthy and hygienic food to the passengers in the trains by nominated vendors of IRCTC”, he said.

The Railway Board has allowed IRCTC to resume the services at selected stations, he said, adding that this will be provided in strict adherence to the COVID protocols.

Under e-catering, services are provided by a large number of food aggregators empanelled by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd, he said.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goel has revealed what New Delhi Railway Station could look like in a few years once it is revamped according to the Central government’s plan. The swanky, futuristic new landmark of the national capital is likely to be a world away from today’s congested, dusty one if his projection is anything to go by.

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is set to hold virtual roadshows for the 95-year-old station’s redevelopment, seeking participation from investors and developers the world over in the estimated $680 million project. The online events will be organised between January 14 and 19 and will seek bids for 61 other such projects, too.

Based on this Mr Goyal on Thursday tweeted a few pictures – artists’ impressions – of what the station would look like, saying, “Envisaging an enriched passenger experience with complete integration of different modes of transport, take a look at the future of New Delhi Railway Station.”

“The project is attracting interest from various stakeholders, and we intend to sustain the momentum through virtual roadshows,” RLDA Vice-Chairman Ved Parkash Dudeja said in the release.

RLDA is a statutory body set up in 1989 under the Railway Ministry to develop assets based on the national transporter’s land bank that could be put to commercial use to generate revenue.

New Delhi Railway Station would be developed on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer model, RLDA has said, for a concession period of 60 years. The project is expected to incur a capital expenditure of around $680 million, the release said.

The station, located in the heart of Delhi, is close to the national capital’s prime commercial hub, Connaught Place, and is connected to the Indira Gandhi International Airport through a Delhi Metro line. It was opened in 1926 and handles around 5.2 lakh passengers every single day arriving or departing on over 350 trains, according to Norther Railways.

Ten people, suspected to be illegal Rohingya immigrants, were arrested from a Rajdhani Express train at the New Jalpaiguri station in West Bengal, a railway official said on Wednesday.

Among them were three men, two women and five children, he said.

They had allegedly crossed over on January 10 from Comilla in Bangladesh to Sonamura in Tripura and had boarded the train at Agartala on January 11 with the help of an agent, the official said.

They had fled from the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar.

All of them were handed over to the GRP at New Jalpaiguri for appropriate legal action, the spokesperson of the Northeast Frontier Railway said.

The train superintendent during ticket checking on the Agartala-New Delhi Rajdhani Express found them to be suspicious and informed the railway police, he said.

Comments As the train arrived at New Jalpaiguri around 1.40 pm on Tuesday they were arrested and immediately de-boarded.

The Indian Railways will run special trains for the Kumbh Mela set to start at Haridwar on Makar Sankranti, January 14. “Indian Railways has started preparing for the Kumbh Mela 2021…special trains will operate on various routes for devotees and tourists to reach Haridwar…,” the Railways tweeted in Hindi and posted pictures of preparations. The railway station at Haridwar has been cleaned and painted for the Maha Kumbh Mela happening after a gap of 12 years. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Utarakhand State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Friday launched an awareness campaign in Haridwar. According to an official statement, eight teams of the SDRF have been deployed in the ‘Kumbh Kshetra’ to carry out the campaign and educate more than 11,000 local residents, devotees and others combating the pandemic situation.

Kumbh Mela 2021: Special Kumbh trains

02369/02370 Howrah-Dehradun-Howrah Super Fast Special will run 5 days a week from January 13
02369 Howrah-Dehradun-Howrah Super Fast Special will run till April 29. Train will not run on Tuesday and Friday.
02370 Howrah-Dehradun-Howrah Super Fast Special will run till April 30. Train will leave Dehradun at 10:10 PM; won’t run on Wednesday and Saturday.
02327/02328 Howrah-Dehradun-Howrah Super Fast Special 
02327 Howrah-Dehradun-Howrah will run from January 12 to April 30 every Tuesday and Friday
02328 Howrah-Dehradun-Howrah will run from January 13 to May 1 from Dehradun at 10:10 PM on Wednesdays and Saturdays
03009/03010 Howrah-Yoganagari Rishikesh-Howrah (daily) will run from January 12
03009 Howrah-Yoganagari Rishikesh-Howrah will run till April 30
03010 Howrah-Yoganagari Rishikesh-Howrah will run from Yoganagri Rishikesh at 8:50 PM from January 14 to May 2
03239 Patna-Kota Special will run from Patna every Monday and Friday
03240 Kota-Patna Special will run from January 12.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Saturday asked officials to deploy a special Covid officer for the Kumbh Mela. Reviewing preparations for the Maha Kumbh, Mr Rawat authorized officials and the Garhwal commissioner to sanction works worth up to ₹ 2 crore and ₹ 5 crore. The Chief Minister also said a committee of experienced engineers and senior officers should be set up to help the Garhwal commissioner sanction works related to Kumbh.