Rly Ministry Mulling 5% Cut In 97-98 Outlay

The railway ministry is working on specific measures to implement a 5 per cent cut in its Rs 8,000 crore outlay for 1997-98. The idea is to reduce expenditure by Rs 400 crore in the last two months of the current financial year.

Though a final decision on imposing the cut is yet to be announced, Rail Bhavan officials are busy identifying expenditure items that can be deferred. They are also evaluating requests for capital works sent by the nine zonal offices and sorting out projects that urgently need financing.

The cut is being planned as Rail Bhavan officials feel that freight income will decline sharply if the industrial slowdown continues. The slowdown has resulted in a sharp decline in the railways freight income from three main sectors iron and steel, iron ore and cement.

The move assumes significance because it follows the finance ministry decision to restore the plan cut, which had been earlier imposed on all departments. The cut was restored and a decision taken to channel the budgetary support amount to all departments following the success of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme.

In the period April-December, 1997, the railways surpassed the freight target of 312.55 million tonnes by transporting 314.24 million tonnes.

It transported 8.53 million tonnes of iron and steel against the target of 10.80 million tonnes, a shortfall of 2.27 million tonnes. It transported 8.75 million tonnes of exportable iron ore against the target of 8.20 million tonnes and 26.22 million tonnes of cement against the target of 27.90 million tonnes.

The slowdown in the steel sector has also resulted in a sharp drop in the transportation of raw material to steel plants. Freight carried by railways to steel plants amounted to 27.94 million tonnes against the target of 32.45 million tonnes, a shortfall of 4.51 million tonnes.

The amount of coal transported by it was 153.28 million tonnes against the target of 149.30 million tonnes. The movement of fertilisers also exceeded the target of 17.40 million tonnes by 2.63 million tonnes.

The railways exceeded the foodgrain transportation target of 18.9 million tonnes by .85 million tonnes during the period.