Cash crunch hits Indian Railways

• Amid delays in execution of a number of key projects, the Railways is exploring several options for their successful implementation even as the state-run behemoth has reached out to the Finance Ministry seeking over Rs 2,000 crore loan.
• The cash surplus of the Railways has reduced to Rs 75 lakh while its working expenses have increased from Rs 41,033 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 73,650 crore in 2011-12. The pension outgo during the same period has also increased from Rs 7,953 crore to Rs 16,000 crore.
• There are also problems in iron ore and coal loadings due to various reasons, as a result of which it appears difficult for the Railways to meet the freight target of 993 million tonnes in the current fiscal.
• Fearing that fund crunch could delay ongoing development works which also include safety work, it has sought an immediate loan of over Rs 2,000 crore from the Finance Ministry, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
• Recently, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi took up the matter with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention.
• Railway Finance Commissioner Pompa Babbar is meeting the Finance Secretary next week to finalise the modalities of the loan from the Finance Ministry, the official said.
• On the nature of the loan, he said it would be a "bridge" loan and its modalities are being worked out. Source: financialexpress.com, Image: flickr.com

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