New Delhi, March 14
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi may not have backers in his own party for the Rail Budget presented today but industry has come out in support of a “bold and pragmatic budget”.

Industry chamber Ficci said while the “intentions are noble, implementation will remain a challenge”.

Ficci welcomed the Railway Budget for having taken the bold step of raising passenger fares that had not been touched since 2002-03. This is indeed welcome as it will reduce, even if marginally the cross subsidisation of passenger fares from freight. The much-needed investment in infrastructure will result in safety, de-congestion, capacity augmentation and modernisation of system.

However, it pointed out that the finances of the Railways in the current fiscal may not be in ideal shape, given that the surplus of receipts over expenditure (after adjusting for dividend payments) has been revised downwards from Rs 5,158 crore to Rs 1,492 crore. This shows a sharp deterioration in railway finances, which is  not healthy.

CII said the budget was “bold and pragmatic” budget and the increase in fares after several years will impart greater flexibility for future requirements.

It also welcomed the stress on public-private partnership through an additional Member, Railway Board. CII said it is a practical and far-reaching Budget that looks ahead to the future.

Reacting to proposals of the Railway Budget for 2012-13, Assocham said though the intention of railway minister is good, it looks yet another missed opportunity to lay foundation for implementing the Vision 2020 Document by mobilising adequate resources through public- private partnership model.

Assocham president Rajkumar Dhoot said the modest rise in fares is inevitable due to high crude oil prices internationally and prevailing inflationary pressures.

“The goal of Vision 2020 Document could be a reality if public-private partnership is seriously taken up for monetising huge chunks of land and properties in metros and elsewhere,” he said.

Hyderabad, March 14
After much delay, the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” would be delivered to India by middle of this year.

Considered the most advanced commercial airplane in the world, Dreamliner would be inducted into the Air India fleet. The aircraft has become the cynosure of all eyes at the India Aviation 2012, the five-day international civil aviation exhibition and conference which opened at Begumpet airport here today.

“We have brought the aircraft complete with the Air India livery, interior and IFE to Begumpet. While the deliveries begin in second quarter, the deliveries of 787s for Jet Airways would begin in 2014,” president of Boeing India Dinesh A Keskar told reporters on the sidelines of the prestigious aero show.

While a senior official of the Civil Aviation Ministry disclosed that Boeing had agreed to pay $500 million as compensation for the delay in delivery, Keskar declined to comment about it.

"Air India had demanded a compensation of $1 billion. However, Boeing has agreed to pay $500 million,” Prashant Shukul, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said adding that the government was trying to push Boeing to pay more compensation.

Keskar said the delivery of Dreamliners to Air India would start in the next quarter and the pilots were being trained now.

“While Air India ordered 27 Dreamliners, 10 were ordered by Jet Airways, SpiceJet ordered 30 737s, Air India ordered three 777-300ERs and Jet Airways ordered 43 777s,” he said.

New Delhi, March 14
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi today said he aims to cut the operating ratio, which is the money spent to earn every Rs 100, of the country’s largest public sector organisation, to 84.9 per cent in 2012-13 from 95 per cent in the current financial year.

Presenting his maiden Railway Budget, Trivedi said reducing the operating ratio would be one of the priority areas of the Indian Railways in the next five years.

"Our target is to bring down the operating ratio, which is at the moment 95 per cent, to 84.9 per cent in 2012-13 and to 74 per cent in terminal year of 12th Five-Year Plan," Trivedi said.

"This would need to be supported by sustainable financial model," he said.

This is the key to garner money for expansion and modernisation. He said the government has outlined a long-term plan to improve the financial health of Indian Railways, which employs 1.36 million people and has annual revenue base of Rs 1,06,000 crore.

The minister said Railways must get at least 10 per cent of the government's total spending on infrastructure sector. Trivedi said Indian Railways expected to receive Rs 2.5 lakh crore as budgetary support from the government in the 12th Five-Year Plan that begins on April 1.

The Railways plans to earn Rs 89,400 crore from its freight operations for the 2012-13 fiscal year, Trivedi said.

He said gross traffic receipts are expected at Rs 1.33 lakh crore for the same period.

Trivedi said a special purpose vehicle, Rail Road Grade Separation Corporation, would also be set up and all level crossings would be eliminated over the next five years.

Chandigarh, March 14
Its not the simplification of tax structure or raising the exemption limits for income tax that a common man expects from the Budget. He hopes for some respite in food and fuel inflation when the Finance Minister presents the general Budget for 2012-13 on Friday. The common man hopes that enough steps are taken to boost agriculture production so that there is no shortage of foodgrain/ pulses and oilseeds that leads to high food inflation. He also hopes for the government to put a cap on the number of hikes being affected in fuel prices in a year, so that his household budget is not squeezed.

Sudhir Kalra, a government school principal from Ambala, said he was hoping for the FM to give a boost to agriculture so that production issues are dealt with effectively. “This alone will help tame the raging food inflation. Besides, I am also hoping that the exemption limit on income tax be raised from Rs 1.80 lakh per annum to Rs 3 lakh per annum,” he said.

While seeking a hike in income tax exemption limit for all, Bharat Hiteshi, a senior citizen from Panchkula, said the main worry for the common man was the high inflation, especially the ever increasing prices of fuel. “In the past one year, we have seen umpteen hikes in fuel prices, which is squeezing the spending capacity of the common man. The government should stop the subsidy on diesel and restrict it to the agriculture sector consumption only.

This will ensure that the subsidy on diesel is not passed on to LPG and petrol consumers,” he said.

Neha Sharma, a housewife from Chandigarh, said high inflation and high taxes are a cause of concern for the service class, which has a fixed income. “If the government rationalises some taxes, we can go in for some savings. But more importantly, the FM should focus on controlling the ever increasing prices of basic utilities and food items, which have a fundamental impact on every household,” she said.

SK Aggarwal, a lawyer, said with the global economic meltdown and India’s economy shaking in the wake of the crisis in the USA and Europe, the main aim of the Budget should be on reducing the fiscal and revenue deficit by cutting the wasteful expenditure by all government departments. “The government should look at ways and means to mobilise resources by imposing heavy taxes on imported cars and other imported luxury items. Besides, the allocation for the defence sector should be increased by a minimum 20 per cent, to be used mainly for the modernisation of the forces,” he said. 

London, March 14
Tatas-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is adding 1,000 jobs at its Halewood manufacturing plant, near Liverpool in the UK. "The new positions, which will support the on-going significant demand for the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Freelander 2, take the workforce at Halewood to almost 4,500 - treble the number employed there just three years ago," the company said.

In the April-January period JLR's global sales were at 2,45,705 units, up 25 per cent from the year-ago period. — PTI