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A effect from the Ministry of Finance connected queries is awaited.
TO ENSURE its fiscal math doesn’t spell awry, the Ministry of Finance has turned down a petition by the Ministry of Railways to person a Rs 79,398 crore ‘special loan’ taken 4 years agone into a grant. The indebtedness was taken during 2020-21 to negociate Covid-related disruptions, and partially to money the pension liabilities.
The Railways has alternatively been fixed a two-year moratorium conscionable up of the indebtedness redemption deadline successful the coming fiscal twelvemonth 2025-26.
The Central authorities extended the peculiar indebtedness to Railways to screen for the gross nonaccomplishment owed to halting of bid operations during March-May 2020 aft the onset of the pandemic, and to enactment up its pension fund.
In its pre-Budget consultations with the Finance Ministry, the Railways projected that the indebtedness beryllium turned into a grant, but yet some agreed connected a two-year moratorium.
Responding to queries by The Indian Express, the Ministry of Railways said it has been “granted a moratorium of different 2 years for fiscal loan components” and it volition wage involvement of Rs 1,358 crore for the years 2024-26.
The documents of Budget 2021-22 amusement that a “special loan” of Rs 79,398 crore was extended to the Railways for “COVID-related assets gap” successful 2020-21 and to conscionable the pension expenses of 2019-20. The opening equilibrium of Railways’ pension money for 2020-21 showed a shortage of Rs 28,398.46 crore.
In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said, “Indian Railways is performing well. Considering IR (Indian Railways) successful the translation signifier of dense infrastructural development, IR has been granted a moratorium of different 2 years for fiscal indebtedness components. However, during the fiscal years, 2024-26 volition wage the involvement components of Rs 1,358 crore”.
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A effect from the Ministry of Finance connected queries is awaited.
Even arsenic the redemption deadline for Covid-related loans was approaching, the Centre anticipated its finances to beryllium stretched, and hence undertook a bid of buybacks and switches of dated securities totalling Rs 2.15 lakh crore successful 2024-25.
The peculiar indebtedness was provided by the Centre to the Railways contingent to definite repayment conditions linked to its show metrics. However, it is learnt that the Railways recovered it hard to conscionable the presumption and conditions related to definite show metrics. Following this, the Railways sought a conversion of the indebtedness to a assistance successful its pre-Budget consultations.
While the Ministry of Railways refused successful January to stock details of the indebtedness pursuing an RTI query citing these arsenic confidential, the Ministry of Finance successful its effect said the contented of repayment of indebtedness by the Ministry of Railways is successful “advance signifier of deliberation and is portion of the Pre-Budget treatment for the ensuing Budget 2025-26”, and hence “cannot beryllium shared”.
Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports connected the macro system and fiscal policy, with a peculiar absorption connected economical science, labour trends, taxation and gross metrics. With implicit 13 years of newsroom experience, she has besides reported successful item connected macroeconomic information specified arsenic trends and argumentation actions related to inflation, GDP maturation and fiscal arithmetic. Interested successful the past of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to work astir its civilization and contented successful her spare time, on with trying to representation the journeys of displacement from there. ... Read More
Dheeraj Mishra is simply a Principal analogous with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India’s 2 cardinal ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He often uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which person resulted successful galore impactful reports. ... Read More
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