• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

`Plan to procure more wagons a welcome step'

Our Bureau

CALCUTTA, Feb. 25

MR. RAMESH Maheswari, President of Texmaco, a K.K. Birla group company engaged in the manufacture of railway wagons, has welcomed the Railway Budget for its proposal for procurement of 23,000 wagons (four-wheeler units) as against the order for a meagre 10,000 wagons placed in the current year so far.

The decision was all the more welcome because, the wagon industry, with an annual capacity of 30,000, was grossly underutilised and operating at just about one-third the capacity.

The Railway Minister, according to Mr. Maheswari, rightly acknowledged the paramount need to arrest the continuous diversion of freight from the railway to road. The economy would be well served by her targeting to raise the railway share to 50 per cent as against the present 40 per cent. This would save precious foreign exchange on fuel as the Railways was six times more fuel efficient besides being eco-friendly.

He, however, was disappointed at the continuation of the cross-subsidisation of passenger fares which were among the lowest in the world. The general increase of five per cent in freight with the traditional exemption of essential commodities would not h elp achieve the objective of wresting higher share of freight from the roadways. The additional cost of transport must be fully recovered on commercial basis from all categories of freight, he said, adding ``if certain essential commodities are to be spa red the burden for political considerations, let the subsidy be given directly from the Central Budget as in the case of the public distribution system''.

Quite a few allocations too might be controversial, he said conceding that one had to make allowances for political considerations.

Cochin Chamber welcomes status quo on fares: The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the Railway Budget as it had not increased the passenger fares in any class, adds our Kochi bureau.

In a release, Mr. A.S. Narayanamoorthy, President of the chamber, said though a 5 per cent general increase had been announced in freight rates, all essential commodities had been exempted from the increase. The announcement by the Minister that the Rail ways was initiating concrete steps towards rail sector improvement vis-a-vis infrastructure facilities and passenger amenities was a most welcome one, he added.

He pointed out that the move to improve passenger amenities at railway stations, emphasis on railway and safety consciousness, improvement of signalling systems, extension of computerisation, tele-booking and introduction of anti-pollution methods would definitely benefit passengers.

The decision to introduce warehousing facilities at existing railway terminals and the move to promote tourism through Railways were positive one.

The chamber was, however, disappointed that this year, though 24 new trains have been announced, Kerala has been totally ignored, he said.