Railways seeks gross budgetary support of Rs 50,000 cr for FY'18

Finance Ministry is likely to agree for only Rs 40,000-45,000 cr, says a senior government official

The Ministry of Railways has sought gross budgetary support (GBS) of Rs 50,000 crore for 2017-18, though the Finance Ministry is likely to agree for only Rs 40,000-45,000 crore, a senior government official said.

"They (Railways) have sought Rs 50,000 crore as GBS, and I think they might get Rs 40,000-45,000 crore...In fact, the railways does not have the capacity to absorb more than Rs 30,000 crore," the official said.

Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs Rs 40,000 crore was announced in the 2015-16 Rail Budget. However, the Finance Ministry for the current year had slashed it to Rs 28,000 crore, citing slow spending pace.

Ending 92-year-old tradition, the government on September 21 decided to merge rail budget with the general budget and agreed in-principle to advance the date of its presentation in Parliament on February 1.

The government has also decided to do away with the Plan/ Non-Plan expenditure classification in Budget 2017-18 and replace it with 'capital and receipt.