Railways budget: A new era

With no separate announcement for the railways budget this year, budget 2017 marks a new era for the sector. Since 1924, the railway budget has always been separate from the broader union budget announcement. In this article, we attempt to analyse why the railway budget was announced separately so far and why has it been merged now with the union budget this year. The Graph 1 can help us understand one of the key reasons. 

As can be seen in Graph 1, in FY1950-51, revenue from railways was substantial as compared to the central tax revenue. While central tax revenue