Captains of industry have welcomed the Railway Budget, describing it as practical and pragmatic with its thrust on passenger safety, infrastructure modernisation and operating efficiency.

“It is a balance budget by the Railways Minister, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, and yet bold in many ways. Hike in passenger fare was a long pending and so was the thrust on operating efficiency,” said Mr Chandrajeet Banerjee, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry.

The Assocham President, Mr Rajkumar Dhoot, appreciated measures relating to raising resources for meeting high safety and hygiene standards.

The chamber called for accelerating the PPP model in railways. “There is far more articulation warranted to monetise the assets by commercialising prime land and properties to raise resources. He called for market-based pricing as the number of passengers has more than doubled in the past five years but the rail network has not expanded in proportion,” said Mr Rana Kapoor, Assocham Senior Vice-President.

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