The Interim Rail Budget for 2009-10 was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday with railway minister Lalu Prasad announcing a few more new trains and outlining plans to step up security in view of terror threats.
The Rs 10,807-crore (Rs 108.07 billion) budget for implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and to fund various ongoing projects was passed by a voice vote.
Replying to the debate on the last budget presented by him, the minister rejected the Opposition charge that fares were being hiked through the 'backdoor', claiming that in the past five years, fares on all classes were lowered, inspite of which the Railways earned a cash surplus of Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion).
Some members were not satisfied with the budget. The BJD members walked out alleging that Orissa had been ignored.
Prasad said budgetary support to the Railways had declined from 53 per cent to 29 per cent since 2004 and it was investing over Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) out of its internal resources to fund its projects.
In 2004, when the United Progressive Alliance came to power, Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion) was invested on various projects. Now that has gone up to Rs 37,000 crore (Rs 370 billion) despite a fall in the budgetary support.
On the safety front, Prasad said the number of accidents had come down from over 400 in 2004 to 195 last year.
