The CII has welcomed the Indian Railways’ ambition to be the largest freight carrier in the world. Ajay S Shriram, President CII said that: “The Rail Budget has presented a broad vision on what needs to be done in this critical sector in order to upgrade infrastructure and improve operational efficiency.

The CII welcomes the ambition to be the largest freight carrier in the world, as presented in the Railway Budget. The Minister has been realistic and candid in acknowledging the problems faced in implementation of projects and improving revenue realization”.

Sumit Mazumder, President Designate CII and Chairman, CII Special Task Force on Railways, said that: “The Minister has presented a practical and execution-oriented Budget, laying emphasis on implementation of on-going projects and focusing on monitoring them for an early closure. If projects are made attractive to private investors, funds through PPP and FDI will be available. Multilateral funding should also be accessed for high speed corridors." The CII also appreciated the increased attention on passenger amenities and safety.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, CII, stated that the Railway Budget eschewed populism. The thrust on cleanliness and efficient station management, greater safely measures and seeking the involvement of corporates to take this forward shows that the budget is anchored in reality. The accent on resource mobilisation through surplus generated by railway PSUs was indeed commendable. Similarly, the restructuring of the Rail Board is a bold initiative, which would help improve efficiency in the system and pave the way for flexible decision-making and restructuring of railways on commercial lines, stated CII.

Introducing fuel adjustment component for linking tariffs with movement of fuel prices was a balancing act required to address the financial challenges faced by railways, CII said. It lauded the stress on timely implementation of projects and reducing the time and cost overruns due to tardy project management. In this context, the setting up of the Project Formation & Monitoring Group at the level of Railway Board to help overcome delays in project execution was welcomed by CII which also appreciated attempts at expediting the projects at the ground level through constitution of a Project Monitoring & Coordination Group consisting of officials of State Government, Railways and professionals was considered timely. The proposal of close monitoring of the execution of Dedicated Freight Corridors was also noteworthy, CII said.

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