Indian industry welcomes Mamata’s ‘unique’ Railway Budget

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Rail Budget for 2009-10 by voice vote after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced some more concessions, few new rail lines and setting up of an expert committee. Replying to a marathon debate on rail budget in the Lok Sabha, Banerjee said an expert committee, headed by Amit Mitra, will prepare a blue print for business plans of railways.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to reply to the general discussion on rail budget on Thursday in Lok Sabha. The Railway budget is still under discussion in both houses of parliament.

July 4th, 2009 MUMBAI/KOLKATA - Commuters in Mumbai, by and large, have welcomed this year's Railway Budget, which Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee tabled in Parliament on Friday. Most of Mamata's 13.6 million local train commuters described the budget provisions from travel as satisfactory.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Terming the railway budget for 2009-10 as "progressive and forward looking", a "pleased" India Inc Friday welcomed Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee's proposals to undertake developmental and capacity expansion projects without touching the fares. "The railway budget 2009-10 is clearly a progressive and a forward looking budget," the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said in a statement released hours after the minister presented the budget in the Lok Sabha.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in parliament house Friday morning to present her ministry's budget for this fiscal, promising to address the demands of the average passenger. "My budget will be of the people, by the people and for the people," Banerjee told reporters before leaving for parliament house to present the railway budget in Lok Sabha, the lower house.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the railway budget would be a "pro-people" budget. "It will be a pro-people budget, a simple budget, people's budget," Banerjee said after an all-party meeting here.

April 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rakesh Chopra, an officer of Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) of 1971 batch, has taken over as the new Member (Engineering), Railway Board and ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India. He took over from S.K.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has made a provision of Rs.1 billion (Rs.100 crore) in the interim budget for 2009-10 for its proposed 'unique identification' project. The government had last month notified the setting up of the project, Unique Identification Authority of India, which will give a unique number to every citizen.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Inc lauded the rail budget tabled in parliament Friday, but said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has not responded to the prevailing slowdown in the country's economy that could have been somewhat cushioned by a cut in freight rates. 'The Railway Minister has presented a mixed budget,' said Harsh Pati Singhania, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

February 12th, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Indian Industries Association (IIA) Friday expressed disappointment over the interim rail budget presented by railways minister Lalu Prasad. 'We are disappointed that no freight cuts have been announced which would have benefited the industrial sector,' said IIA president Praveen Sadana.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced

February 12th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Orissa has been neglected in interim railway budget presented by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad in Parliament Friday, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here. 'I am disappointed as Orissa has been neglected,' Patnaik told reporters here, adding that only one new express train was proposed to be introduced in the state in 2009-2010.

February 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - The interim railway budget presented by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad in the Lok Sabha Friday could not match the expectations of the business community here, which is reeling under the impact of global economic slowdown. 'Though there are many positive proposals, there was no reduction in trade rates, which could have helped industry and trade in times of economic recession,' Sanjay Budhia, president of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told IANS.

January 31st, 2009 PATNA - Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is set to gift his home district, Gopalganj in Bihar, a railway division before the next Lok Sabha polls. After Lalu Prasad's ancestral village Phulwaria is connected with his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi's Salar Kalan village, Lalu now plans to give another rare gift to Bihar by announcing the establishment of a railway division in Thawe at Gopalganj.

January 22nd, 2009 RANCHI - Indian Railways Friday paid tributes to freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose by renaming a railway station in Jharkhand after him. Railways Minister Lalu Prasad announced the new name of the Gomo railway station that comes under the Dhanbad railway division.