Got rid of railway budget to remove political interference: Piyush Goyal

Railways will soon come out with a massive 20 gigawatt renewable energy procurement programme by "which we hope to have net zero carbon emissions from the railways in 10 years," he said

Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that the Narendra Modi government discontinued the decades-old practice of presenting a separate railway budget to stop political parties from using it as a "tool" to win elections.

Addressing the 5th India Ideas Conclave here, the Railway minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focussing on a number of programmes that not only provide inclusive and sustainable growth, but make India a force to be reckoned with on the international stage.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the functioning of the railways. We got rid of the railway budget to remove political interference