After 17 years, the Railway Budget will be presented to Parliament by a Congress minister. The last one to do so was Suresh Kalmadi in 1996. Pawan Kumar Bansal’s maiden exercise Tuesday comes as the railways face a huge financial jolt in the diesel hike. Mr Bansal must now take forward Rs 1,50,000 crores in pending projects.
While there was a passenger fare hike after a decade last month, half the extra yield (`3,300 crores) was knocked out by the diesel hike. A fresh fare hike and a marginal increase in freight is possible, while a fuel adjustment surcharge is also being considered.