Railways without a separate budget

Recent neglect of the Indian Railways' finances is worrying and public policy debate on this must be revived

The Modi government’s decision in 2017 to do away with the presentation of a separate annual budget for the Indian Railways was hailed as a significant reform. What got discarded was a 92-year-old practice, started by the British and continued by the Indian government even after independence. Presenting the Union Budget for 2017-18, the then finance minister, Arun Jaitley, had stated: “I feel privileged to present the first combined Budget of independent India that includes the Railways also.  We are now in a position to synergise the investments in railways, roads, waterways and civil aviation.”

Five years have gone by after