New Delhi, March 14 : The Standing Committee on Railways on Monday recommended the optimal utilisation of allocated funds for the structural reform and asked to increase the internal revenue generation through ‘monetisation of airspace and vacant land,’ to meet the future challenges of Railways. The recommendations were made by the committee, while presenting its 11th report on demands for grant 2022-2023 in the Lok Sabha. “Noting that every year the plan size of the Railways is increasing, the Committee had recommended the Ministry to adhere to the structural reforms initiated during the previous years, to utilise the maximum allocation” it said. Taking note of unrelenting decline in internal revenue generation, the Committee had suggested the Ministry to prioritise accomplishing and commissioning remunerative projects, besides exploring other commercial avenues like monetisation of airspace and vacant land. While cautioning the Ministry about increased reliance on borrowings, which could further depreciate the overall financial situation of the Railways, the Committee had recommended for making earnest efforts towards substantial enhancement of internal revenue generation to reduce over-reliance on the borrowing component of Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) gradually. The total Capital Outlay for the Ministry of Railways for 2022-23 has been kept at Rs 2,45,800 crore, including Rs 200 crore from Nirbhaya Fund. For the ensuing fiscal year, the Railways have fixed an optimistic total traffic revenue target of Rs 2,39,500 crore in BE 2022-23, based on the highest-ever freight loading target of 1475 MT. While appreciating the target fixed for 100 per cent electrification of railway lines by 2023, the Committee had recommended that efforts be firmed up for achievement of targets of 6500 RKMs set for electrification during the year 2022-23. According to Railways, total 1,926 route km has been electrified during the financial year 2021-22 up to December 31, 2021, against electrification of 1,903 route km in corresponding period of financial year of 2020- 21. “As on January 30, 2022, the Broad Gauge (BG) routes of Indian Railways, 48,330 (74.71 per cent) Route Kilometer (RKM) have been electrified. All efforts are being made to achieve the target of 100 per cent electrification by December, 2023,” the ministry said. On the new initiative of ‘Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT),’ the Committee opined that Railways should explore possibility of using their vacant land for developing GCTs, so as to mobilise funds from their own assets, which are lying idle and could be saved from encroachment. While appreciating the initiative of the Railways in implementing the indigenously developed ‘KAVACH,’ the Committee said that the allocation on safety should be enhanced, so that the KAVACH be implemented in entire areas/sections over Indian Railways in coming years. The Committee lauded this initiative of the Railways and hoped that it would go a long way in bringing down the rate of accidents. KAVACH is under commissioning on 1200 km of South Central Railway Zone and they are going to cover the Delhi-Mumbai and the Delhi-Howrah line targeted for implementation up to March, 2024. The Committee further appreciated that the Railways have overdone the targets in closure of manned level crossings. During 2018-19, it was 631 over 400, while in 2019-20, it was 1273 over 1000. JA RJ
