Gross Traffic Receipts estimated at Rs 184,820 crore (US$ 26.9 billion), a growth of 10.1 per cent.
Earnings from freight is estimated at Rs 117,933 crore (US$ 17.2 billion), a growth of 5.4 per cent as a result of expected incremental traffic of 50 million tonnes due to anticipation of healthier growth in the core sector of economy.
Passenger earnings growth pegged at 12.4 per cent and budgeted at Rs 51,012 crore (US$ 7.4 billion).
Other coaching and sundries are projected at Rs 6,184 crore (US$ 903 million) and Rs 9,590 crore (US$ 1.4 billion) respectively.
Total expenditure is expected to be Rs 180,791 crore (US$ 26.4 billion)
Ordinary Working Expenses proposed to grow at 11.6 per cent and reach Rs 1,23,560 crore (US$ 18 billion)
Pension outgo budgeted at Rs 45,500 crore (US$ 6.6 billion).
Appropriation to depreciation reserve fund (DRF) from revenue placed at Rs 3,200 crore (US$ 467 million) and that from production units at Rs 200 crore (US$ 29.2 million). A withdrawal of Rs 3,160 crore (US$ 461 million) from DRF on net basis proposed though the gross expenditure to be met from DRF in the Annual Plan estimated at Rs 7,160 crore (US$ 1.04 billion). An appropriation of Rs 5,750 crore (US$ 839.9 million) is proposed to the Capital Fund.
Operating Ratio (Net Revenue/Capital) targeted at 92 per cent for 2016-17.
Financial Performance 2015-16 Receipts
Gross Traffic Receipts stood at Rs 167,834 crore (US$ 24.5 billion) in Revised Estimates (RE), less by Rs 15,744 crore (US$ 2.29 billion) from the Budgeted Estimates (BE) of Rs 183,578 crore (US$ 26.8 billion).
Freight earnings stood at Rs 111,852 crore (US$ 16.3 billion) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 121,423 crore (US$ 17.7 billion), growing 5.7 per cent over 2014-15.
Freight loading stood at 1,107 million tonnes in 2015-16 compared to 1,095 million tonnes in 2014-15, indicating growth of 1.1 per cent.
Passenger earnings stood at Rs 45,376 crore (US$ 6.6 billion) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 50,175 crore (US$ 7.3 billion), growing 7.5 per cent over 2014-15.
Total number of passengers originating in 2015-16 was 8.1 billion compared to 8.22 billion in 2014-15.
Other Coaching earnings stood at Rs 4,325 crore (US$ 631 million) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 4,612 crore (US$ 673 million), growing 6.96 per cent over 2014-15.
Sundry earnings stood at Rs 5,580 crore (US$ 815 million) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 7,318 crore (US$ 1.06 billion), growing 9.56 per cent over 2014-15.
Operating Ratio stood at 90.5 per cent in RE compared to 88.5 per cent in BE.
Expenditure
Total expenses stood at Rs 151,907 crore (US$ 22.1 billion) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 163,480 crore (US$ 23.8 billion), growing 5.36 per cent over 2014-15.
Ordinary working expenses stood at 110,690 crore (US$ 16.1 billion) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 119,410 crore (US$ 17.4 billion), growing 4.43 per cent over 2014-15.
Appropriation to depreciation reserve fund stood at Rs 5,500 crore (US$ 803 million) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 7,900 crore (US$ 1.15 billion), declining 29.3 per cent over 2014-15.
Appropriation to pension fund stood at Rs 34,500 crore (US$ 5.03 billion) in RE compared to the BE of Rs 34,900 crore (US$ 5.09 billion), growing 18.05 per cent over 2014-15.
Achievements in 2015-16
Action initiated on 139 budget announcements of 2015-16.
2,500 kms Broad Gauge lines and 1,600 kms of electrification were commissioned and funding through LIC was ensured.
Rs 24,000 crore (US$ 3.5 billion) contracts were awarded since November 2014 as against Rs 13,000 crore (US$ 1.89 billion) contracts awarded in last six years.
Online recruitment process was initiated in 2015-16 while social media was used as a tool to bring in transparency.
Cabinet approved 17 JVs with State Governments and six memorandum of understanding (MOUs) were signed with State Governments.
Significant efforts were made towards making travel comfortable by generating over 65,000 additional berths, installing 2,500 water vending machines; introducing ‘Mahamana Express’ with modern refurbished coaches; providing 17,000 biotoilets in trains and developing world’s first Bio Vacuum toilet.
Introduced 1,780 Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM), mobile apps and GoIndia smartcard for cashless purchase of tickets was introduced.
Investments
Average capital expenditure over 2009-14 was Rs 48,100 crore (US$ 7.02 billion) with an average growth of 8 per cent per annum.
In 2015-16 investment was close to double of the average of previous five years.
In 2016-17 capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 121,000 crore (US$ 17.6 billion) which will be implemented through joint ventures with states and developing new frameworks for Public-private partnership (PPP).
Long term plans
Rs 8.5 lakh crore (US$ 124 billion) to be spent over five years for modernisation of railway infrastructure
Aim to generate 10-20 per cent of revenues from non-tariff sources over next five years by monetisation of assets
Undertaking process improvements by awarding projects through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode, implementing performance output parameters based contracts, leveraging technology for project management and initiating system-wide information technology integration through innovative partnership models.
Major Initiatives for 2016-17
Capacity addition
Proposed commissioning of 2,800 km of new tracks, nearly 30 per cent higher than last year
7 km of broad gauge lines to be commissioned every day during 2016-17
400 stations to be re-developed through PPP
Railway electrification to be increased by 50 per cent; Nearly 2,000 km route to be electrified next fiscal
44 new projects valued at Rs 92,714 crore (US$ 13.5 billion) to be implemented this year
Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system - from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 per minute (to support 120,000 concurrent users)
Two locomotive factories at the cost of Rs 40,000 crore to be set up
Building terminal capacity - proposed to develop rail side logistics parks and warehousing in PPP mode, 10 goods sheds will be developed by TRANSLOC, the Transport Logistics
Company of India, in 2016-17. To soon inaugurate India’s first rail auto hub in Chennai.
Introducing new trains which include
Humsafar Express: A fully air conditioned train with an optional service for meals.
Tejas: It will showcase the future of train travel in India with operating speeds of 130 kilometer per hour (kmph).
Uday Express: Overnight double-decker train which will run on busiest of routes. It will have 40 per cent more passenger capacity.
Antyodaya Express: A superfast train for those travelling on long routes and will be fully unreserved.
Introducing new passenger services which include
Deen Dayalu coaches: These coaches will have large number of mobile charging points and water. These are meant for long distance travel.
Janani: A service to make available baby food, hot milk and hot water for lactating mothers.
Sarathi: Introduced in Konkan railway to help the old and disabled passengers requiring assistance at stations.
Sahayak: Coolies will be given training in soft skills and will be called 'Sahayaks'.
Clean my Coach: Passengers will be able to demand cleaning of a toilet via SMS. The audit will be done by third party and action to be taken based on passenger feedback.
Other initiatives
Models to determine revenue potential of at least 20 stations in next three months
Expanding the freight basket of Indian Railways by starting a time-tabled freight container, parcel and special commodity trains on a pilot basis.
Rationalising the tariff structure by undertaking a review of tariff policy to evolve a competitive rate structure vis-à-vis other mode.
Enhancing research and development through initiatives such as Sreshtha, Navarambh, Sutra, Avtaran and Navrachna.
Ensuring independence of Rail Development Authority to enable fair pricing of services, promote competition, protect customer interests and determine efficiency standards.
Aim to achieve entirely paperless contract system in 2016-17
WiFi in 100 stations this year and 400 other stations next year
Aim to reduce accidents by 20 per cent in 2016-17
To have CCTV surveillance at all stations, 300 major stations covered this year
Aim to introduce 20,000 screen rail display network for passing info to passengers and huge advertising potential