A recent seminar attended by the top brass of the railways poke about the urgent need to rein in the runway electricity and diesel bills of the railways expected to jump from Rs 28,000 crore last year to around Rs 35,000 crore for the financial year 2014-15. The fuel bills of the first two months- April and May- of the financial year of Western Railway's Mumbai division has thrown up figures which show, said officials, that electricity and diesel bills will continue to bleed the railways even this year.
How much has WR spent on diesel?
The Western Railway's Mumbai division has already spent Rs 3.52 crore on diesel. Last year, between April 2013 and March 2014, the diesel bills came up to Rs 25.77 crore. "The diesel bills for the first two months show that we should be crossing Rs 30 crore in diesel bills this year quite comfortably. And with the prices of diesel expected to be on the boil for various reasons through the year, these bills are going to hurt," said a senior WR official.
What is Mumbai division's diesel cost?
Diesel bills of the Mumbai division have shown a steady increase over the past few years with it going up from Rs11.84 crore in 2011-12 to Rs19.18 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 25.77 crore for financial year 2013-14.
What is power scene?
The electricity bills are giving just as much as a shock to the train-runners in Mumbai as diesel, the statistics showed. For the first two months of the new financial year, WR's Mumbai division spent Rs 46.6 crore for consuming 58.4 million units of electricity. Last year during the same period, the consumption of electricity was around 58.8 million units and the bill was Rs 35.8 crore.
Why is the power bill so huge?
Officials said despite cutting down on the electricity consumption from 58.8 million units to 58.4 million units, they actually saw a huge rise in bills. "That is because average purchase cost of electricity during this period went up from Rs 6.10 to Rs 7.97," said the official. Power bills have also shown a rising trend with the bills going up from Rs 168.4 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 233.9 crore in the financial year ended this March.
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