Saturday 26 February, 2011

Rlys surplus projected to rise by 28 per cent

NEW DELHI : Indian Railways, the world's second largest public sector employer, expects a surplus of revenue over expenditure to rise by over 28 per cent to over Rs 5,258 crore next fiscal on the back of higher traffic receipts.
The surplus in 2011-12 is expected at Rs 5,258.41 crore, a growth of 28.11 per cent over the revised estimate of Rs 4,104.50 crore for the current year, according to the Railway Budget 2011-12 presented in Parliament today. This increase in surplus is expected on account of greater gross traffic receipts.
Gross traffic receipts are projected to be Rs 1,06,239 crore in the next fiscal, up 12.02 per cent from the revised estimate of Rs 94,840.44 crore in 2010-11. According to the Budget presented by Railways minister Miss Mamata Banerjee, the total receipts of the Indian Railways is also to witness an increase of 12.6 per cent in 2011-12 at Rs 1,09,393.13 crore. This is against a revised projection of Rs 97,151.20 crore for the current fiscal.
As per the explanatory memorandum of the Railway Budget, the total working expenses of her ministry in FY12 will be Rs 96,450 crore.
This is an increase of 10.61 per cent over the revised figure of Rs 87,200 crore in the current fiscal.
The total expenditure of Railways is stated to go up by 10.6 per cent during the next fiscal to Rs 97,400 crore. The revised total expenditure for the current fiscal is Rs 88,129.34 crore. As per the minister, the operating ratio of the Railways will come down to 91.1 per cent 2011-12, from the 92.1 per cent revised estimate made for 2010-11. Presenting the Railway Budget, Miss Banerjee had said that there will be no hike in passenger fare and freight rates. The budget for next year proposes to have the highest ever Plan outlay of Rs 57,630 crore, with Rs. 9,583 crore provided for new Railway lines.
The minister announced 1300 km of new lines, 867 km doubling of lines and 1017 km gauge conversion as target in 2011-12. She also announced introduction of 56 new Express Trains, three new Shatabdis and nine Duronto trains.

Rail stocks witness steep fall after Budget
Rail stocks today fell sharply by up to 14 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the Railway Budget 2011-12 announcement, which according to market players failed to bring any great surprises for investors.
Shares of companies related to Indian Railways, including Kalindi Rail Nirman, Titagarh Wagons, Kernex Microsystems (India) emerged as the major laggards. Kalindi Rail Nirman shed 13.74 per cent to finally end the day at Rs 116.45. In intra-day session, the stock plunged by 17.77 per cent hitting a 52-week low of Rs 111 on the BSE. Similarly, the wagon manufacturer Titagarh Wagons shares dipped by 13.06 per cent to settle at Rs 331.80. “The Railway Budget sounds ambitious to state the least but given the track record, especially of last year, implementation seems unlikely again. For instance, the minister targets 700 km of rail line addition in financial year 2012, compared to 180 km average,” IIFL-India Private Clients Head (Research) Mr Amar Ambani said.
He further added that no change in passenger rates was along the expected lines as part of the populist measure. “All-in-all, a negative Budget on expected lines”, Mr Ambani said. Further, railway equipment provider Kernex Microsystems (India) closed the day at Rs 94.60, down by 4.97 per cent. Heavy equipment major Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) and Stone India were other losers for the sector shedding 2.90 per cent and 7.53 per cent, respectively.
Voicing Mr Ambani's opinion, MAPE Securities Head (Research) Mr Kislay Kanth said: “There are very few revenue enhancement strategies and plan to reduce the losses, since rates for freight and passengers could not be increased in an inflationary environment.”
However, bucking the trend were Container Corporation of India and Gateway Distriparks whose shares rose by 3.15 per cent and 0.65 per cent to close the day at Rs 1,130 and Rs 115.85, respectively.
Meanwhile, after a volatile session, the BSE benchmark index Sensex ended the day at 17,700.91, up 68.50 points from its previous close.

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