Railway Budget 2015: 9 key announcements that impact India Inc

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the Railway Budget for the 2015-16 financial year in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Here are some of the key points the minister announced that will impact India Inc:

1. Freight rates hiked by 10 per cent for urea, 2.7 per cent for cement and 6.3 per cent for coal.
2. 77 new projects to be launched with an investment of Rs 96,182 crore to expand capacity.
3. Plan Outlay proposed at Rs 1,00,011 crore, up by 52 per cent.
4. Railways will also leverage additional resources; envisages investment of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in next five years.
5. Railways to mobilise resources for higher investment.
6. Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System to be installed on select routes.
7. Rs 6,581 crore earmarked on level crossing safety, train protection warning system to prevent fires, collision avoiding system.
8. 17,000 toilets to be replaced and modernised, vacuum-based toilets on cards, new toilets in 650 railway stations, railways will set up waste management plants.
9. 100 diesel-run trains to be enabled for dual fuel - CNG and diesel. Locomotives running on LNG are also currently under development.