Railway Budget 2010-2011 Highlights

On 24th of Feb 2010 Mamata Banerjee had presented Railway Budget in the Indian Parliament House. These are the some highlits for railway Budget 2010.

·  Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee appeals to business houses to join hands for building partnership with Railways. Presenting Railway Budget for 2010-11, Banerjee says a special task force will be set up for early clearance of projects.

·  No fare hike for passengers.

· Railways not to be privatised; It will remain with the government, says Banerjee. While not privatising, Railways have to develop business models for improving earnings, says Banerjee.

·  Railways 2020 vision document will contain short, medium and long-term goals. Commitments fulfilled to the maximum. Out of 120 trains announced in last budget, only three remain to be flagged off because of lack of broad-gauge lines, says Banerjee.

·  Plans to launch a pilot project for fire detection.The government also plans to construct more underpasses for safety, the minister said while presenting the Railway Budget.

·  Railways to start six water bottling plants in places like Ambala, Thiruvananthapuram, Farakka, Amethi and Nasik to provide clean and cheap drinking water to passengers.

·Indian Railways aims to add 25,000 route kilometers by 2020. The railways currently has 64,015 route kilometers, she said.

· India's railways has set up a special task force to clear investment proposals in 100 days

· Indian Railways plans to keep rail freight rates unchanged, Bloomberg-UTV news channel reported, without saying where it got the information.

· Railways to set up mobile e-ticketing centres at hospitals, universities, courts, IITs, IIMs, district headquarters and village panchayats. All 13,000 unmanned level crossings to be manned in the next five years.

· Railway Protection Force to be strengthened through amendments in RPF Act; women's wing to be formed in RPF to ensure security of women. Ex-servicemen to be inducted in RPF. Railways will be the lead partner in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

· Railways to set up Rabindra Museum in Howrah and Geetanjali Museum in Bolpur -- both in West Bengal  to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 125th birth anniversary.

· Railways will provide houses to all its employees in the the next 10 years in collaboration with the Urban Development ministry.

·  Railways to enhance contribution to central staff benefit fund. Centre for Railway Research to be set up at IIT-Kharagpur. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works capacity to be augmented from 200 to 275 engines a year.

·  Work on Rae Bareli Coach Factory in Uttar Pradesh to start within a year. Wagon Repair Shop to be set up in Badnera near Amravati in Maharashtra.

· Integral Coach Factory in Chennai to be modernised and a new unit to be set up there. If land is available, Railways willing to set up a Diesel Multiple Unit factory in West Bengal.

· No forcible acquisition of land for freight corridor project. One member of each family of land losers to be given employment in the freight corridor as also in the new projects.

· High-speed dedicated passenger corridors to be constructed; National High Speed Rail Authority to be set up.

· Revenue from non-core business of Railways to go up from Rs 150 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. Indian Railways has set a target to transport 944 million tons of goods in the year beginning April 1.

· Railways expects to increase earnings from non core activities. The government aims to increase non core earnings to Rs10 billion rupees from Rs1.5 billion.

· Railways expects to increase earnings from non core activities. The government aims to increase non core earnings to Rs10 billion rupees from Rs1.5 billion.

· Despite slowdown, Railways to exceed freight loading target by eight million tonnes during 2009-10. Freight loading target for 2010-11 fixed at 944 million tonnes, 54 million tonnes more than the current year's revised target. Gross traffic receipt for 2010-11 pegged at Rs94,765 crore.

·  Allocation for construction of new lines increased from Rs2848 crore to Rs 4411 crore.

· Rs1,302 crore provided for passenger amenities in the 2010-11 railway budget against Rs 923 crore last year.

· Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)will borrow 91.2 billion rupees ($1.97 billion) from the market in 2010-11.

·  Railways to have master plan for North Eastern region. Special train between India and Bangladesh to be started to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

· 101 additional services to start on Mumbai suburban railways. Survey will be conducted to connect Sealdah and Howrah stations in West Bengal. To commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary, 'Bharat Teertha' trains to connect several pilgrimage centres across the country.

·  Indian Railway Finance Corporation will borrow Rs91.2 billion ($1.97 billion) from the market in 2010-11.

Budget Expectation 2010

This Year Finance Minister of India Mr Pranab Mukharji will present the Union Budget in the parliament for the Financial Year 2010-2011 on 26th February 2010. Everyone (Including all types of citizen of India & NRIs) is as eager to know the India Budget 2010 expectations as the final budget itself. After recession or Economic slowdown this is the 1st Union Budget will be going to  Present in front of the House.This year Corporate house have more expectation from this budget as well as Common people too.

Corporate House:- Corporate house is waiting for Some stimulus package for the industry.Specially IT & Banking industry most affected from this economic slow down.

Common People:- Common People Expectation have a  to control Sky Rocketing of the food prices.

This time Government should more focus on

1. Control on High Inflation Rate

2. Sky Rocketing Food Prices

3. Education Sector

4. Control on Government Expenditure.

5. Tax Rebate for Corporate & Individuals

6. More Focus on Priority Sector (Agriculture & Service) & ETC.

Taxes:

The common men and the corporates are looking for decrease in taxes. The Finance Minister is likely to augment exemption limit of individual taxes to Rs 3 lakh from Rs1.60 lakh for salaried people. Exemption limit for women is expected to be increased from 1.80 lakh to 4 lakh and for senior citizen from Rs 2 lakh to 5 lakh.

However, taxes levied on the perks availed by income earners are expected to be restructured on higher level. This arrangement may satisfy junior employees and senior citizens. But, it may not go well with the people belonging to higher position.

Corporate Tax:

A reduction of 30% is expected in the corporate tax. The expectation is found in line with the introduction of Direct Tax Code (DTC) suggesting a 25% rate. The individual rate was lowered by 30% previous year also.

Capital Gains Tax:

As far as the 2010 India Budget expectation in the area of capital gain tax is concerned, finance minister is unlikely to bring any reform in this category of tax. It is predicted to be included under the Direct Tax Code, to be implemented from April 2011.

Re-fixing of Tax Slabs:

As mentioned earlier, the tax slab for women is expected to be revised to 4 lakh and senior citizens to Rs 5 lakh. However, second and third slabs of tax would see significant change.

The second tax slab is expected to be augmented from the existing Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 million to be taxed at 20%. The third slab is likely to be increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh to be taxed at the rate of 30%.

These revisions would act in favor of the reputed advocates as well as the doctors.

Stimulus:

India Budget 2010 speculations suggest that it is not the right time for the government to roll back stimulus packages, despite the fact that GDP growth of the nation in the Q2 (July – September) of the current fiscal stood at 7.9%.

However, experts believe that government would withdraw few of the subsidies from the market. The oil companies were aided with the stimulus package to check loss. Government did not allow the Oil companies to raise product costs of kerosene and diesel, which would have forced the common men to pay more.

As high prices of diesel and petrol would bear adverse effect on the transport rates of food products, the stimulus packages are expected to continue in the oil industry. However, partial withdrawal of the stimulus aid can be expected in this sector to tackle the situation of increasing fiscal deficit.

Agriculture Sector:

According to India Budget 2010 expectations, the agriculture sector would be the highlight of the session. This sector is likely to receive enormous boost from the government. Finance minister's invitation to the farmers for the pre-budget meet is held to be the main reason behind such speculation.

Infrastructure and Social Sector:

Infrastructure industry is also expected to be the focus of the budget results of 2010. Many believe that development in this sector would account for massive growth in GDP. However, it is unlikely to ease monetary policy to better infrastructure. Interest rate cannot be reduced as well.

Other Sectors:

While taking into account the India Budget 2010 expectations of various sectors, it was found that the garment industry of India is looking for considerable cut in interest rates in its exports segment. The garment exporters also want the ministry to remove all the confusion faced in the case of excise as well as custom duties. The sector wants major commercial as well as fiscal relief. Similarly, the Indian tea industry is expecting to get an allocation of more than Rs 130 crore, which was granted in the fiscal year 2009-10.

List are many and expectations are more. In a very few days the government will open their magic box to lure the Indian Common people or they will only for the Corporate House.