Indian Railways posts 25 pc growth in revenues for FY23

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways (IR) on Monday posted a 25 per cent growth in its revenues to Rs 2.40 lakh crore for the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). This jump in revenues is nearly Rs 49,000 crore more than the previous year, according to a statement from the ministry of railways.

During the financial year 2022-23, freight revenue, too, leapfrogged to Rs 1.62 lakh crore, which showed nearly 15 per cent growth over the previous year.

According to the statement, Indian Railways' passenger revenues have registered an all-time high growth of 61 per cent to reach Rs 63,300 crore. After three years, IR is able to fully meet the pension expenditures. Buoyancy in revenues and tight expenditure management have helped in achieving an operating ratio of 98.14 per cent, well within the Revised Estimates (RE) target.

After meeting all revenue expenditures, Railways generated Rs 3,200 crore for capital investment from its internal resources which were about Rs 700 crore for depreciation reserve fund (DRF), Rs 1,000 crore for Development Fund (DF) and Rs 1,516.72 crore for Rashtriya Rail SanrakshaKosh (RRSK). In terms of traffic revenue, Railways earned Rs 63,300 crore as passenger revenue in 2022-23, against Rs 39,214 crore in 2021-22, as much as 61 per cent higher than the last financial year.

Railways earned Rs 5,951 crore as other coaching revenue in 2022-23, against Rs 4,899 crore during 2021-22, which is 21 per cent higher than the last financial year, according to the statement.

Sundries revenue went up 39 per cent to Rs 8,440 crore during FY23, against Rs 6,067 crore in 2021-22. Gross revenue was at Rs 2,39,803 crore, against Rs 1,91,278 crore in 2021-22. Also, gross traffic receipts stood at Rs 2,39,750 crore as compared to Rs 1,91,206 crore in 2021-22, according to a statement from the ministry.

In FY23, total railway receipts were Rs 2,39,892 crore, against Rs 1,91,367 crore in 2021-22. Total Railway expenditure during 2022-23 is Rs 2,37,375 crore, against Rs 2,06,391 crore in 2021-22. According to the ministry statement, operating ratio during FY22-23 is 98.14 per cent. In terms of capital expenditure, the capital invested was Rs 1,09,004 crore during FY23, against Rs 81,664 crore in 2021-22.

Under Railway Safety fund, Rs 30,001 crore was spent during 2022-23 as compared to Rs 11,105 crore during 2021-22, according to the statement.