 "10 things to know about Modi govt's maiden rail budget")
Railway minister Sadananda Gowda in his maiden rail budget today said the bulk of future railway projects will be financed through public-private partnerships besides announcing bullet trains and a diamond-quadilateral network. Here are the top 10 things you need to know about the Rail budget:
1) Cabinet nod to be sought for allowing FDI in Railways, barring in operations. Bulk of new projects to be financed through PPP mode.
2) Railways plans to increase speed of trains to 160 to 200 km per hour in nine select sectors
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3) Bullet train proposed on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector.
4) Govt to launch diamond quadrilateral of high speed trains, allots Rs 100 crore for the same.
5) Govt to make e-procurement compulsory for procurements over Rs 25 lakh.
6) Govt plans to spend Rs 65,450 crore on its railways in 2014/2015. The government also expects total investment in railways through public-private partnerships to total Rs 6,005 crore in FY15.
7) 4,000 women RPF constables to be recruited for women's coaches to ensure safety.
8) Proposes Wi-Fi services in all A1 stations, select trains. E-ticketing to enable 7,200 tickets per minute - against the current 2,000 per minute - and allow 120,000 users to simultaneously book online.
9) Govt targets to become the largest freight carrier in the world. Launches 58 new trains.
Click here to read the complete speech
10) Govt proposes to introduce pre-cooked ready-to-eat meals of reputed brands in a phased manner. Emphasis on cleanlines, budget hiked 40%. Cleaning activities at 50 major stations outsourced.
Click here to read the complete speech