Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today said the merger of the railway budget with the General Budget had enabled the provision of Rs 2.45 lakh crore capital investment in the railways in 2022-23, and there was no talk of privatization of the Railways.

Replying to a discussion on the working of the Ministry of Railways in the Rajya Sabha, he said the railways’ separate budgets were not conducive to increasing investment in the railways. The railways had to pay dividends and investment charges.

The lack of capital investment in the railways had stagnated its growth, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged the doubling of capital investment in the railways to Rs 99511 crore in a year after coming to office and in the coming financial year, it was proposed at Rs 2.45 lakh crore.

Vaishnaw said the UPA Governments only produced vision documents but there was no implementation. The Modi Government had ended policy paralysis in the railways, and all projects were progressing fast.

He said the railways would soon cut its operational costs by improving the operating ratio by achieving higher freight transport. The Minister said the operating ratio was adversely affected by the Pay Commission’s recommendations.

He said the railways were a complex operation, and involved social obligation, and therefore there was no question of privatization of the railways. The Minister said the railways’ subsidy to passengers each year was Rs 62,000 crores by charging only 48 paise for the expenditure of Re 1.16.

The Railway Minister said since 2014, 3.44 lakh employees were recruited in the railways, and recruitment of another 1.40 lakh employees was on. He admitted that some misunderstanding had led to discontent among the job-seekers and it had been resolved.

Vaishnaw said there was no discrimination against any State by the Railway Ministry. The States cooperating in the land acquisition were getting their projects processed fast. He said the creation of new zones or divisions was done only on an operational basis and not on a regional view.

Referring to Kerala’s controversial Silverline project, he said there were some difficulties in this project. There were problems of interoperability from standard gauge to broad gauge; as well as ecological and environmental concerns, besides a public agitation. Whatever decision the Government takes will be in Kerala’s interest, he assured.

The Modi Government had achieved electrification of 50,000 kms track, covering 3440 kms each year, while the UPA Government could not decide whether to give up diesel or not. After the initial two high-speed Vande Bharat trains, 75 more high-speed trains would come soon, and 400 Vande Bharat trains were planned. The railway engineers’ Kavach device for automatic protection of trains was the talk of the world.

He said the railways would require an annual investment of Rs 3 lakh crore yearly to increase its passengers total from 800 crores to 1000 crores and freight level two and a half times higher from the present 1200 million tonnes. The railways have to become the engine of transformation for the entire economy.