Rail Budget 2012 - travel may get costly

It's the D-day and all eyes will be on Union Minister Dinesh Trivedi who will present the Railway Budget 2012 in Parliament. Sources say that the government is likely to impose a safety cess, although it will not be labelled a fare hike. Sources add that there is a possibility of an additional surcharge, called the Union government development surcharge.

However, the ministry is not likely to announce many new trains this year. A new premium scheme on reservation for a confirmed berth is also likely.

The emphasis, reportedly, will be on modernisation, infrastructural overhaul and on a dedicated freight corridor. Sam Pitroda's recommendations and the Kakodkar report are likely to be a part of the budget document.

Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal has said that a fare hike will bolster the railway finances only up to a limited extent. "The urgent need is to consolidate rather than expand," he says.

When asked if the current model of railways is a financially viable model, he said, "Trains run but we don't earn revenue because they are necessary."

"We fulfill a huge social responsibility. There are still areas in the country where people have not seen train in their entire life. There is a huge social cost," he added.

He further said, "There are four to five sources. One is a gross budgetary support. The government gives money. We have to generate our own resources as well. How do we generate through freight and fare and PPP? You have to increase the capacity."

"Even if you have a fare hike, the question is, how much can you do? The poorest of the poor have a certain affordability... and the government has a duty towards them."

But the Railways continues to announce new trains and projects are being distributed. When asked where will the money for those projects come from, the Railway Board chairman said the ministry has been very "circumspect this time" as far as the projects are concerned. "We need to consolidate rather than expand," he said.

Mumbai to Ahmedabad in four hours? Bullet train likely

Mumbai: While high-speed trains have been zipping passengers across cities and continents in Western and Asian countries for years, the idea of introducing the bullet train is finally going to be a reality in India.

Three days before the Rail Budget, there is good news for the city's Gujarati businessmen and workers alike.

In what could be a first for the Indian Railways, a high-speed corridor for long distance passenger trains has been proposed between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. An announcement to this effect is likely to be made on March 14 by Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.

The 500-kilometer-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, which currently takes seven hours on the fastest train the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Duronto Express, is lined up for the introduction of bullet trains.

"Initially trains will run at 200 km/h, but gradually, after significant improvements and upgradation of crucial signalling and telecommunication systems, the trains will run at speeds in excess of 350 km/h," said a senior railway official, on condition of anonymity.

This would drastically bring down the travel time of passengers frequenting these two vital and financially strong cities, bringing the travel time down to a mere 4 hours. Railway authorities claim that this corridor would be the much-needed fillip for Indian Railways, and have estimated the high-speed line to cost Rs. 60,000 crore.

The decision to accelerate the bullet train project comes against the backdrop of the report submitted by the Expert Group for Modernisation of Indian Railways, headed by technocrat Sam Pitroda, recently.

As per the report, the project would take at least ten years to complete and private investment would be pivotal to finance the project.

"We will look to explore the public-private partnership wherein we hope to expect an investment in the range of Rs. 20,000 crore from them in the next five years," said another railway official.

The report also states that the government will have to share 20 per cent cost of the project, in case private investors face financial problems.

Meanwhile, railway officials also state safety measures will be taken into consideration before implementing the high-speed corridor because if trains exceed speeds even in the range of 10 km/h, the scope of accidents will grow multi-fold.
Railway officials believe that simply fencing tracks with concrete walls will not ensure complete safety, as often cattle cross the tracks, that at times leads to accidents and derailments.

In mid-2011, a delegation of experts from Japan visited Delhi and Mumbai for discussing high-speed corridors. They inspected the route on the Mumbai-Delhi stretch as part of high-speed corridor that will ply between Surat, Vadodara, Ratlam, Kota and Mathura.

Rahul Dravid's retirement speech

Bangalore: Here is the complete speech made by Rahul Dravid who announced his retirement from Tests and first-class cricket.

I would like to announce my retirement from international and domestic first-class cricket. It has been 16 years since I first played a Test match for India, and I feel it's time for me to move on. Once I was like every other boy in India, with a dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so long and so fulfilling. I have had a wonderful time, but now it is time for a new generation of young players to make their own history and take the Indian cricket team even further.

No dream is ever chased alone. As I look back, as one does at such a time, I have many people to thank for supporting me, teaching me and believing in me.

My junior coaches in Bangalore and at various junior national camps inculcated in me a powerful love of the game which has always stayed with me.

My coaches at the international level have added to my craft and helped shape my personality. They pushed me and challenged me to keep getting better. The physios and trainers worked hard to keep me fit -- not an easy job -- and allowed me to play late into my 30s.

The selectors who rarely receive any credit in India had, on occasions, more confidence in me than I had in myself and I am grateful for that. The various captains I played under offered me guidance and inspired me.

The media has been kind to me, and I have respect for their craft.

The KSCA and BCCI have provided me a platform and the facilities to play the game.

But most of all, I have to thank the teams I played with. I know what I am going to miss the most is being part of a unit. The joy of bonding together and striving to achieve a goal is what made cricket special for me. I was lucky in my early years to play for a Karnataka team which was trying to forge itself into a strong side and they were years of fun and learning.

In the Indian team, I was fortunate to be part of a wonderful era when India played some of its finest cricket at home and abroad. Many of my teammates have become legends, not just in India but in the wider cricketing world. I admired them, learnt from them and I leave the game with wonderful memories and strong friendships. It is a great gift to have.

A career in sport is almost impossible to manage without the support, guidance, and reassurance of family and friends. During tough times -- and there have been many -- they are the ones we go to. I found strength and encouragement from my parents (Sharad and Pushpa ) and brother (Vijay) and they created around me a positive environment which was essential to my success.

My wife, Vijeeta, has been a remarkable partner in my journey. She has made sacrifices in her own career and has almost been a single parent bringing up our children alone as I travelled abroad to play. Whenever challenges appeared, she was always there, as sounding board, as ally and as guide. Being away from my family became harder and harder through the years and I look forward now to spending time at home and doing the simple things, like just taking my sons (Samit and Anvay) to school.

Finally, I would like to thank the Indian cricket fan, both here and across the world. The game is lucky to have you and I have been lucky to play before you. To represent India, and thus to represent you, has been a privilege and one which I have always taken seriously. My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity, and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride.

MCX rises 38% to Rs 1425 on opening

A share of MCX, India's largest commodity exchange, shot up 38% on opening to trade at Rs 1425 as against issue price of 1032 on the BSE.

Equilibrium price for a share stands at Rs 1387, so accordingly the upper circuit limit of 20% is at Rs 1660.8 while lower circuit at Rs 1109.6.

Read here what brokerages said about the IPO

On the National Stock Exchange, it is trading at Rs 1364, up 32.17% after hitting a high of Rs 1428.55 and low of Rs 1348 in early trade. The opening price for a share stands at Rs 1408.

It is the first big ticket IPO as well as first IPO listing of 2012. The company had raised over Rs 663 crore via offer for sale of 64.27 lakh equity shares and there was a dilution of 12.6% by selling shareholders. Financial Technologies, a promoter, reduced its stake to 26% from 31.18% via issue.

Sensex up 300 pts; MCX shoots 35% in pre-opening session

The BSE Sensex started off trade with 250 points gap up on Friday following strong global cues. Even the NSE Nifty touched 5300 level on hopes that Greek debt deal will get passed soon.

MCX was at Rs 1,395 (near to expected price), up 35% over issue price of Rs 1032 in pre-opening session. Normal trading session of the world's fifth largest commodity exchange will start only after 10 am. Shares of Financial Technologies, a promoter of MCX, rose 1.6% to Rs 875.

The BSE benchmark gained 303 points or 1.77% at 17,448.75 and the NSE benchmark jumped 94 points or 1.8% to 5,314.35.

Asian markets extended gains today on hopes that Greek debt swap deal will get approved soon. Overwhelming participation from private bondholders indicates that support is still flowing in. Greek officials indicate over 95% participation. Yesterday, even US markets rallied 0.5-1%.

Back home, Tata Steel, SAIL, IDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, L&T, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, TCS and Wipro gained 1.5-3.5%.

The NSE Bank NIfty surged 244 points in early trade.

Reliance Communications gained 2% as about 2 crore shares changed hands on BSE in a block deal.

However, BPCL and HPCL lost 0.7% as these companies are waiting for oil price hike.

About five shares advanced for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange. The CNX Midcap moved up 118 points to 7,589.

In the second line shares, MTNL gained 4% as Business Standard reports that LIC wants to exit MTNL via private placement.

Mahindra Satyam rose 3.5% after the company acquired vCustomes's BPO biz for USD 27 million.

Hexaware Technologies moved up 4% as L&T in today's board meeting will discuss Hexaware acquisition.

Kingfisher Airlines climbed 2.5% after oil companies resumed fuel supply to the company last night. They had cut fuel supply for non-payment. However, IATA suspended Kingfisher. KFA says it is unable to pay IATA as bank accounts frozen.