Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement of the state-owned

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

, which handles

rail transport in India Rail transport in India is an important mode of conveyance for people and goods in India. Indian Railways (IR) is the primary operator of rail operations throughout the country. IR is a state-owned organisation of the Ministry of Railways, whic ...

. It was presented every year by the

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

, representing the

Ministry of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

, in the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. The Railway Budget was presented every year, a few days before the

Union budget The Union Budget of India, also referred to as the ''Annual Financial Statement'' in Article 112 of the Constitution of India, is the annual budget of the Republic of India. The Government presents it on the first day of February so that it coul ...

, till 2016.

Modi government The premiership of Narendra Modi began on 26 May 2014 with his swearing-in as the prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He became the 14th Prime Minister of India, succeeding Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress. Modi's ...

on 21 September 2016 approved merger of the Rail and General budgets from next year, ending a 92-year-old practice of a separate budget for the nation’s largest transporter. Railways Minister

Suresh Prabhu Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician, India's Sherpa (emissary), Sherpa to the G7 anChancellor of Rishihood University who was the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Minister of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Rail ...

said that this merger proposal was in the long term interest of railways as well as the country’s economy and was a colonial practice that needed to be ended.

History

Following the recommendation of the Acworth Committee in 1920-21, headed by British railway economist William Acworth The "Acworth Report" led to reorganisation of railways, the railway finances were separated from the general government finances in 1924. After that in 1924 the budget was announced, a practice that continued till 2016.

John Matthai John Matthai CIE (1886–1959) was an economist who served as India's first Railway Minister and subsequently as India's Finance Minister, taking office shortly after the presentation of India's first Budget, in 1948. He was born on January 10 ...

presented the first Railway Budget for independent India on 20th November 1947 which was interim Railway Budget and only after 3 months he presented his second Railway Budget on 24th February 1948 where revised estimates showed a fall in earnings of about 8 crores rupees as compared with the budget estimates.

Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 – 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji, was an Indian independence activist and politician from Bihar. He was instrumental in the foundation of the ''All India Depressed Classes League'', an organisation dedicated ...

presented the railway budget most 7 times. The first live telecast took place on 24 March 1994.

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...

, who remained Railways Minister from 2004 to May 2009, presented the railway budget 6 times in a row. In 2009, under his tenure a budget was passed. In the year 1999,

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

(later

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

) became the first female

Railway Minister A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...

. In 2000, she became the first female to present the Railway budget and is the only woman to do so for two different governing coalitions (

NDA NDA may stand for: Military * National Defence Academy (India), a military academy in India * National Defence Act, legislation for organizing and funding Canada's military * National Defense Academy of Japan, a military academy in Japan * Nig ...

and UPA). In 2014 budget, Railway Minister

D. V. Sadananda Gowda Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda (born 18 March 1953), is an Indian politician who served as the union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers of India in the Second Modi ministry from 14 November 2018 to 7 July 2021. He also served as the Mi ...

announced the first

bullet train Bullet train may refer to: Rail * Shinkansen high-speed trains of Japan, nicknamed for their appearance and speed * Other high-speed trains of a similar appearance to Japanese trains * An ongoing project to build high-speed rail in India. Rail to ...

and 9 High-Speed Rail routes. The last Railway Budget was presented on 25 February 2016 by Mr.

Gallery

Traditions included the Railway Minister making final changes to the budget, the railway minister carrying the briefcase with the budget documents, and an after budget press meet. File:The Union Minister for Railways Shri Nitish Kumar entering Parliament to present Interim Railway Budget (2004-05) in New Delhi on January 30, 2004.jpg File:The Union Minister for Railways, Shri Lalu Prasad giving finishing touches to the Railway Budget 2005-06 in New Delhi on February 25, 2005.jpg File:The Union Minister for Railways, Kumari Mamata Banerjee interacting with the media persons after presentation of Railway Budget 2011-12, in New Delhi on February 25, 2011 (2).jpg File:D.V. Sadananda Gowda giving finishing touches to the Railway Budget 2014-15, in New Delhi. The Minister of State for Railways, Shri Manoj Sinha, the Chairman, Railway Board (1).jpg File:The Union Minister for Railways, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge arrives at Parliament House to present the Interim Railway Budget 2014-15documents, in New Delhi on February 12, 2014.jpg File:Dinesh Trivedi interacting with the media persons after presentation of Railway Budget 2012-13, in New Delhi. The Ministers of State for Railways.jpg

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Railways
{{Indian Railways , state=autocollapse Ministry of Railways (India) *

History

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links