Indian Railways' revenue Earnings grew by 12.57% to Rs 1,14,656 crore during April-December 2014 as against Rs 1, 01, 856 crore during the same period last year.
Segment wise, earnings from goods registered an increase of 11.35% to Rs 77,161.55 crore from Rs 68,776.35 crore. On the other hand, earnings from the passenger segment stood at Rs 31,955.07 crore as compared to Rs 27,646.13 crore, registering an increase of 15.59% during the April-December 2014. The total approximate numbers of passengers booked declined by 1.64% to 6,256.16 million compared to 6,360.15 million in the reported period.
Indian Railways is an important sector for India and has the potential to raise India's economic growth by over one percent. Therefore, it has become imperative to modernize, strengthen and expand the Indian railway network.
Ever since its origin, Indian Railways had always been shut off from receiving any kind of FDI, considering security risks involved. However, in August this year, the government had eased FDI norms permitting 100 percent investment in rail projects, such as high-speed trains, suburban service, dedicated freight corridors, freight and passenger terminals. FDI is also being permitted for rail route electrification, signalling system and logistics parks.