The Hindu Business Line : Railways' cash surplus at Rs 20,153 cr in 2006-07

New Delhi June 9 Indian Railways has announced that it has registered a cash surplus before dividend of Rs 20,153.49 crore for 2006-07, up 37 per cent against Rs 14,709.79 crore in the previous year, according to the latest financial statistics released by the Railways.

It registered gross earnings of Rs 62,367.55 crore in 2006-07, up 14 per cent compared with Rs 54,404.56 crore in 2005-06. The earnings have gone up driven by an increased demand for transportation of steel, iron ore, and cement on the back of a booming economy. Moreover, the Railways also increased the tariffs for several commodities including iron ore, cement, coal and foodgrains.

The total goods earnings touched Rs 41,716.5 crore during the year, up almost 15 per cent from Rs 36,286.97 crore during 2005-06. The total passenger earnings went up by 13.8 per cent to touch Rs 17,224.56 crore (Rs 15,126 crore).

The Railways paid a dividend of 4,247.52 crore in 2006-07 compared with Rs 3,667.92 crore in 2005-06. The operating ratio (which is the amount of paise spent to earn one rupee) of Railways has improved touching 78.68 per cent during the year from 83.72 per cent in 2005-06.