Chambers of commerce and industry in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday welcomed the Railway budget, especially the proposal to effect a nominal increase in passenger fare, but some were disappointed that some long-pending demands were ignored this year too.
The announcement of Chennai-Bangalore A/c double decker express, extension of the MRTS, new rail neer plants at Palur, new terminal at Royapuram, 72-MW capacity windmill plants in Tamil Nadu are in the right direction and would serve to improve the infrastructure bottlenecks in the state and contribute to the economic growth of the region, said Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
P. Murari, Adviser to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president, welcomed the Railway Budget for having taken the bold step of raising passenger fares that had not been touched since a decade.
The Madras Chamber of Commerce of Industry said plans to set up the Indian Railways Stations Development Corporation and Logistics Corporation and proposals to bring down operational ratios would help the Railway sector in the long run. Chozha Naachiar Rajasekar, president, Tamil Chamber of Commerce, said it was disappointing to see that writing of railway exam in regional languages announced in the last budget, was yet to be implemented. The Sindhi Chamber of Commerce complimented the Railway Minister for focussing on safety. The Hindustan Chamber of Commerce described it as a good and well thought budget. Syed Muneer Ahmed, president, National Chamber of Commerce, said it was not a common man's budget as passenger fares had been raised.
