Loan of Rs 79,398 crore... The government had helped the railways!
indian Railways was given a 'special loan' of Rs 79,398 crore by the Ministry of Finance four years ago. Railways had to pay it in the financial year 2025-26. However, the Railways requested the ministry to convert this loan into a grant. The Finance Ministry has certainly rejected this request of the Railways, but in return gave two more years to repay the loan amount.
The government had given the loan during Corona
The Railways had taken this loan during 2020-21 during the time of Corona in the country, which was used to deal with the disruptions during the pandemic such as giving pension to pensioners etc. In fact, during March-May in the year 2020, the Railways suffered huge losses due to the stoppage of train operations due to Kovid-19. To compensate for this loss and strengthen its pension fund, the central government offered a special loan to the railways.
Talks between the two took place before the budget
Before the presentation of the budget on february 1, the railways had a meeting with the Finance Ministry. In this, the railways requested the ministry to convert the special loan into a grant. But the matter did not work out. Finally, both the parties agreed on a two-year moratorium. Responding to the question of the indian Express, the railways said that they have been given a grace period of two years to repay the loan. However, they will also have to pay interest of Rs 1,358 crore for 2024-26.
The loan was given to the railways on these conditions
There has been no response from the Finance Ministry on this yet. The central government had given this special loan to the railways on the basis of some conditions related to its performance matrix. However, it was learned that the railways are facing difficulty in fulfilling these conditions, so the railways demanded to convert it into a grant before the budget.
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