Syed Marwan Shah

The Pakistan Railways can resolve its current economic crisis by efficiently and appropriately utilising its assets including the vast tract of land, WealthPK reports.

Besides other assets, the precious land owned by Pakistan Railways in different areas of the country has the potential to steer it out of the present economic crisis.

Pakistan Railways owns 168,858 acres of land in different provinces. Out of the total land, 49% measuring 83,138 acres is situated in Punjab. Sindh has 45,663 acres or 27% of the total. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa possess 23,771 and 16,286 acres, respectively, which form 14% and 10% of the total.

Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the department suffered about Rs525 billion losses due to the recent floods in Pakistan.

The railway infrastructure in Sindh and Balochistan, including tracks and bridges, was destroyed by the floods. The suspension of railway services for several weeks due to the floods also badly impacted its revenue.

The minister said that the suspension of train operations resulted in a loss of millions of rupees to the department each day. “It has been just a few days since we resumed our operations. We are hopeful that our operations will continue to expand,” he added.

The management was making efforts to reduce the deficit and the pressure of inflation but the recent floods increased significantly the losses of the cash-starved Pakistan Railways.

“There has been a disturbance in the balance of payments due to the surge in the value of the dollar during the past few months. In addition to exchange rate fluctuations, the increase in diesel prices is likely to increase our oil costs,” said the minister.

He said that the oil bill of railways for the financial year 2021-22 was Rs20 billion. He said that the bill was likely to reach Rs36 billion in the current fiscal if the prices of oil were not reduced. He added the corporations were suffering a deficit of Rs47.5 billion with a revenue stream of Rs60 billion when he assumed charge as minister for railways a few months ago.

“As a result of all these factors, the ongoing inflationary pressure is unsustainable. We are also facing a dangerous situation due to the backlog of payments. Having completed the payment of retired personnel for the year 2020-21, we have now moved onto the year 2021-22,” said Saad Rafique.

He said that the federal government was another possible source of funding for the department but it was also in a tight financial position. “We do not want to see the federal government taking another loan and passing it on to the railways,” he added.

He said that they had decided to fight and recover from the losses using their own resources. “As we are facing a dangerous situation, this will not be an easy task, but we will begin with cost-cutting measures and seek to increase revenue,” said the minister.

The management of railways has increased train fares to recover from the losses. However, the minister said that they would try to reduce the burden on passengers travelling in economy class.

He believed that utilisation of its land for commercial purposes would help Pakistan Railways to steer out of the current economic crisis.

WealthPK has learnt that the ministry is seeking permission from the Supreme Court of Pakistan to utilise the land of railways for commercial purposes to recover from the losses.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk