Budget 2018: Budgetary support for Indian Railways to be cut by 27% in FY18

The revised support for 2017-18 will be 13% less than the Revised Estimates (RE) of Rs 463.5 billion in 2016-17

The Union government has cut budgetary support to the Indian Railways by Rs 150 billion for the financial year 2017-18.

Hence, the national transporter is set to rely on borrowings, asset monetisation, and internal generation so that it does not fall short of the capital expenditure (capex) target of Rs 1.31 trillion for the fiscal year.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earmarked gross budgetary support (GBS) of Rs 550 billion for the railways but, faced with a revenue squeeze, various departments have been told that government support will have to be reduced for the current financial year. 

However, the