Center Scraps Separate Railway Budget

There will be no longer a separate budget for Indian Railways from the next financial year. The Union Cabinet approved the scrapping separate Railway Budget and merging it with the General Budget. The Separate Railway Budget practise was started in 1924 and Suresh Prabhu will get down to the record books as the last Railway Minister to introduce a Railway Budget.

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The Rail budget and general budget will be amalgamated from now, there will only be one budget but the functional autonomy of railways will be maintained. Railway Portfolio over the year was held by regional biggies and used to reflect their political priorities. But BJP’s solid majority in Lok Sabha ensured that it stayed with the party.

Modi government is also going to present the budget a month early than the usual practice. The budget session of Parliament will be called sometime before January 25, a month ahead of the current practice. The beginning of budget preparation will also be advanced accordingly. This will ensure better implementation of the expenditure and tax regimes introduced in the budget right from the start of the new financial year.