The Railway Budget for 2003-04 will be presented in the Lok Sabha as scheduled on Feb 24, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar announced on Wednesday.

Dismissing reports that the Railway Budget presentation was being rescheduled in view of assembly elections in four states on Feb 26, he asked how many trains run in these states to have an impact on the electorate.

Declining to reveal whether the Budget would be "hard or soft", Kumar said he was "satisfied" to some extent on the financial position of the Railways, implying it may not be very harsh.

He said the budgetary process has almost been completed and only finishing touches have to be given to the Budget.