No takers to bail out Indian Railways [Feb 2012]

With the government turning down repeated request to bail out Indian Railways, its Minister Dinesh Trivedi has sought a corpus fund on the lines of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to take care of select projects.
A “sick railways will hurt the country’s GDP growth aspirations”, Trivedi has written in a letter to the finance ministry, adding that the national transporter might be staring at a deficit budget.
While Trivedi refused to specify the amount needed, sources said the immediate need was to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore. The Railways, however, is not seeking a simple bailout but wants to get the government on board in rebuilding railway coffers.
Apparently Trivedi’s proposal of a dynamic fare model, to be announced in the coming Railway Budget, has not found many takers in his own party, especially supremo Mamata Banerjee. She sticks to her demand that there be no hike.

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