Indian Railways has seen lower than expected earnings from upper class passengers while second class passenger earnings exceeded estimates by more than five per cent. Revenue receipts from upper class passengers at Rs 3079.61 crore (Rs 30.79 billion) in 2006-07 was lower than the budget estimation of Rs 3174.80 crore (Rs 31.74 billion).
For 2007-08, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has pegged the earnings from this segment at Rs 3553.39 crore (Rs 35.53 billion). In 2005-06, earnings from upper class travellers was Rs 2693.59 crore (Rs 26.93 billion).
In a bid to attract more passengers to AC First and AC 2-Tier, the Railway Minister in his budget for 2007-08 slashed fares by 3-4 per cent during busy season and by up to 8 per cent during lean season.
Earnings from second class passengers in 2006-07 was Rs 14,320.39 crore (Rs 143.20 billion) as against budget provision of Rs 13,625.20 crore (Rs 136.25 billion). Prasad sees a 15 per cent jump in these earnings in 2007-08 to Rs 16,521.61 crore (Rs 165.21 billion). The segment gave Rs 12,432.40 crore (Rs 124.32 billion) in revenues in 2005-06.
Earnings from goods transportation clocked a 5 per cent increase to Rs 42,299 crore (Rs 422.99 billion) in 2006-07 over budget estimate of Rs 40,320 crore (Rs 403.20 billion). For 2007-08, revenues from this segment, which contributes 64 per cent of the total earnings, has been projected at Rs 46,943 crore (Rs 469.43 billion).
Goods earnings in 2005-06 stood at Rs 36,286.97 crore (Rs 362.86 billion). The total fare and goods tariff earnings in 2007-08 has been put at Rs 71,218 crore (Rs 712.18 billion) as against the Rs 63,120 crore (Rs 631.20 billion) revised estimate for 2006-07 and Rs 54,404.56 crore (Rs 544.04 billion) for 2005-06.
Railway Budget 2007-08: Complete Coverage
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