CII (Northern Region) has hailed the Railway Budget’s focus on improving infrastructure and passenger services and said development of important stations in public-private partnership mode in the north would a go long way in providing world-class facilities at these stations. “The Rail Budget is a forward-looking budget and northern region stands to benefit immensely. We are happy with the focus on north, but would want more,” said a spokesman of the CII in a release.
Satish Bagrodia, president of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), said, “The Rail Budget should have been used to reduce freight rates across the board to stimulate the economy.” The chamber maintained that freight rates are very high in India and need urgent rationalisation through phased reduction in cross-subsidisation of passenger fares by freight rates.
?No concrete steps have been outlined in the budget to address capacity constraints on high-density corridors, improvement of terminal and logistic management, upgrading rolling stock and movement of goods with speed and safety. Growth of railway traffic faces a major constraint due to saturation of track capacity,? he said.