Railways' revenue likely to rise 10% to Rs 1.8 lakh crore

Railways’ revenue likely to rise 10% to Rs 1.8 lakh crore

Dec 11, 2017 Posted by Indian Railways Updates Indian Raliways News Comments Off

The Indian Railways is expected to post total revenue of Rs 1.8 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, slightly short of initial target but 10% more than what it reported last year.

A spike in coal loading and strong showing in the passenger category are driving the performance, Railway Board’s member-traffic Mohd Jamshed told ET. In the year ended March 31, 2017, the railways posted revenue of Rs 1.64 lakh crore.

The target set in the government’s budget for this year was Rs 1.88 lakh crore, which has now been revised to Rs 1.8 lakh crore.

Slower economic growth has not dented the railways’ business to the extent expected. The economy grew 6% in first half of fiscal 2018, down sharply from 7.7% in the same period last year.

In the last financial year, it made Rs 1.04 lakh crore by loading nearly 111 crore tonnes of freight and almostRs 46,000 crore from passenger traffic. The remainingRs 14,000 crore came from non-fare segments.

In the current financial year, the railways is expecting to load 115.5 crore tonnes of cargo.

Though this would be 1 crore tonnes short of its target of 116.5 crore tonnes, the railways is hopeful of an uptick in the last quarter as loading picks up generally in February and March

Though this would be 1 crore tonnes short of its target of 116.5 crore tonnes, the railways is hopeful of an uptick in the last quarter as loading picks up generally in February and March.

“Last year we saw unprecedented growth in March. We could expect the same this year. However, a lot depends on foggy months of December and January,” Jamshed said.

The railways is losing Rs 800 crore a year after service charges were waived on digital ticket booking, he said.