Highlights of Railway budget 2010-11 - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday presented the railway budget in the Parliament. The highlights of the Railway budget 2010-11 are as follows: Plan to raise Rs 10,000-20,000 crore in the next one year For cheap drinking water, plan to start six bottling plants To earn revenues, Railways need to set up a business model Larger section of population to get connectivity over next five years Targeting 1000 km new tracks every year Policies to be made easy, investor-friendly Special Task Force to clear proposals for investments in 100 days Focus on medium term goals, planning and funds Our objective is to unite the country through rail connectivity Social responsibility priority in my railway budget Time to build partnership with private players Rail exams to be held in regional languages Concession for women and minority communities Ten per cent of Budget for modernisation of tracks Ministry needs Rs 14 lakh crore for vision 2020 E-ticketing mobile vans at hospitals, universities Share Anti-collusion devices to be added to zonal Railways Share 100-day window for investment clearance Share Multi-layer parking at stations Women RPF to be raised Housing scheme for 14 lakh Rail employees Sports academies to be set up in five cities No hike in railway freight rates Special trains for Commonwealth Games Out of 120 new trains, 117 to be launched by March 31 Ex-servicemen for railway security Five new coach factories to be set up Railway research center in Kharagpur Design testing unit to be set up in Bangalore Railways to start work on Rae Bareilly coach factory in the next one year Service Charge on AC class cut to Rs 20 as against Rs 40 earlier Service charge on sleeper class reduced to Rs 10 101 new suburban trains in Mumbai Railways to set up multi-functional hospitals Houses for all Railways employees in the next 10 years.