Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal is all set to present the interim budget for the financial year 2019-20 at around 11 am today, Friday February 1. Both the houses of Parliament- the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, will remain in session till February 13 for the Budget Session, which began on Thursday. A total of 10 sittings are slated to take place.
From industrialists to common man, everyone is expecting Piyush Goyal some sort of favourable announcements in the railway sector in his budget speech. Like the last two years, there will be no separate Railway Budget.
The travel and tourism is a key sector and contributes the country’s Gross domestic product (GDP). Like the two previous ones, this budget is expected to focus on safety, upgrading infrastructure and passenger amenities.
According to the sources, Goyal is expected to make announcements on increasing the speed of few existing trains along with announcing some semi high speed trains and safety measures on Train Protection Warning System, GPS-enabled train track system and Track Maintenance with Advanced Machinery.
Follow here: Budget 2019 live updates: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal begins address
While the contents of Goyal’s briefcase are still open to speculation, here’s the common men’s wish list for railways
This budget could be a full-fledged budget of the Modi government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due by May this year. It will be crucial for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as it offers one last opportunity to announce some popular measures ahead of the elections, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a second term.
