By IANS,
Lucknow : The Indian Industries Association (IIA) Friday expressed disappointment over the interim rail budget presented by railways minister Lalu Prasad.
“We are disappointed that no freight cuts have been announced which would have benefited the industrial sector,” said IIA president Praveen Sadana.
However, the two percent reduction in fare for AC class travellers, improved connectivity and increased capacity of goods trains are welcome moves, he added.
“Though the minister had already declared Thursday that there would not be many new projects in his budget, yet we were expecting something more in favour of industry,” he said.
“It is good to know that the 11th five year plan has thrice the amount allocated as compared to the 10th plan but it remains to be seen how the commonman and industry gain from it,” said D.S. Verma, executive director of IIA.
He said the railways have not been able to gain the confidence of small dealers or manufacturers to use their goods transport facility, mainly due to fear of loss or damage to goods and delays in delivery time.
IIA was expecting the railways minister to come out with some innovative measures to gain this confidence, Verma added.