Not moving fast can derail the Railways
Railways Changing tracks - BISWARANJAN ROUT×
Capex has to be well executed, given the cost of borrowings. The salaries and pensions outgo is unsustainable
Faced with parlous finances prior to the pandemic outbreak, Indian Railways needs to seize the moment, adapt its mammoth, moribund apparatus to operate in a new paradigm amidst emerging competition, volatile customer demands, besides rapidly evolving technologies.
The Railways needs to first acknowledge it is indeed terminally sick. It has for long been living far beyond its means, a reality deftly camouflaged. For the last few years it drastically curtailed appropriation to DRF from ₹7,775 crore in 2014-15, to a meagre ₹400 crore in 2019-20, ₹200 crore in 2020-21, and provided for ₹800 crore in 2021-22.