No Rail Budget from next financial year

Source: www.thehindu.com

The 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Railway Budget is set to come to an end from the next fiscal, with the Finance Ministry accepting Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s proposal to merge it with the General Budget.

According to railways, the Finance Ministry has now constituted a five-member committee comprising senior officials of the Ministry and the national transporter to work out the modalities for the merger. The committee has been asked to submit its report by August 31.

“I had written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for merger of the Rail Budget with General Budget. This will be in the Railway’s and the nation’s interest. We are working out the modalities,” Mr. Prabhu said. The Railways have to bear an additional burden of about Rs. 40,000 crore on account of implementation of the Pay Commission awards, besides an annual outgo of Rs. 32,000 crore on subsidies