NEW DELHI: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said the financial health of the Railways has improved in the last 10 years, adding that the national transporter has now a small revenue surplus after meeting all costs.
Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said 5.04 lakh jobs were generated during the 2014-24 period while another 1.5 lakh employment is being provided in the third term of the NDA government. Vaishnaw said there have been sustained efforts in the last 10 years to increase freight traffic and passenger revenue, besides controlling cost. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there has been a lot of improvement in the financial health of the Indian Railways in the last 10 years,” he said in reply to a question by BJP member Laxmikant Bajpayee.
Vaishnaw said the railways staff cost stands at around Rs 1.18 lakh crore for about 12 lakh employees while 18 lakh pensioners cost Rs 65,000 crore. The energy cost is Rs 32,000 crore, finance cost Rs 23,000 crore and maintenance cost Rs 8,000 crore.
The overall cost of Railways is Rs 2.74 lakh crore, he added. “Railways is earning a small surplus after meeting all its costs because of the steps taken by the Centre in the last 10 years,” Vaishnaw said. “In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the operating ratio was 98.22%, gross traffic receipts Rs 2,65,114 crore and surplus Rs 2,660 crore,” he said in a written reply.
Vaishnaw said the PM’s decision to achieve complete electrification of the railway network has led to reduction in the energy cost besides providing immense environmental benefits. The diesel and electrical cost has reduced to about Rs 32,400 crore from Rs 37,841 crore four years ago, despite increase in freight traffic, Vaishnaw said. He added that the Railways is having a small revenue surplus because of efficiencies in operations, especially saving of Rs 5,500 crore in energy cost, better maintenance practice, and increase in freight traffic by 400 million tonnes.
Vaishnaw said the government is providing a subsidy of Rs 60,000 crore to all passengers. The subsidy level is at 45% in the railway fare for passengers. He added that the recruitment process for 18,000 assistant loco pilots has been completed and their onboarding has begun.
Replying to another supplementary, Vaishnaw said the Modi government has paid significant attention to the Northeast, with the Budget increased to Rs 11,486 crore from Rs 2,000 crore during the UPA government. During the Zero Hour, the minister informed the House about progress in railway works in J&K and Kerala.