(REOPENS DEL 29)

The revenue target of Rs 1.35 lakh crore for the current fiscal is likely to be missed as the total earning of Railways for the 10 months from April, 2012, to January, 2013, has been Rs 1,01,223 crore, which means it needs to earn Rs 34,000 crore in the next two months to meet the target. Railways annual plan size was slashed down to Rs 52,000 crore from Rs 60,000 crore for the year 2012-13 due to the overall cut in the expenditure. Annual Plan size may touch Rs 70,000 crore in the next fiscal as Railways is likely to get about Rs 30,000 crore as general budgetary support (GBS) in the Rail Budget 2013-14, sources said. Railways, which had got Rs 24,000 crore in the last budget, sought Rs 38,000 crore from the government. In the last Rail Budget, railways had predicted its operating ratio to be 84.9 per cent, whereas at present, its operating ratio is hovering around an unhealthy 90 per cent. Operating ratio is defined as a company's operating expenses as a percentage of revenue.