Rail Budget 2015: Railways’ freight revenue to rise 14 per cent to Rs 1.21 lakh crore

New Delhi: The proposed hike in freight ratewill help Railways' earnings from movement of goods grow by 14 per cent to Rs 1,21,423 crore in the next financial year, nearly half of which is expected to come from coal and cement. In 2014-15 (revised estimate), the revenue from movement of goods will rise to Rs 1,06,927 crore from Rs 93,095 crore in the previous year, according to the Rail Budget document. Out of the total revenue projected for the next fiscal, revenue from movement of coal would contribute the maximum at Rs 50,398.59 crore, up from Rs 44,486.27 crore in the current fiscal.

The earnings from movement of cement is projected to increase to Rs 10,813.56 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 9,668.42 crore. Whereas, movement of foodgrains is expected to rake in Rs 10,158.58 crore in next fiscal from Rs 9,088.9 crore at present. Budget proposals, presented by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Parliament today, proposed a hike i freight rates for 12 commodities in the range of 0.8 per cent to 10 per cent.