Rail fare hike after PM's nod: Sadanand Gowda

New Delhi, Jun 18: The railways will take a call on passenger fare hike only after seeking a direction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Railway minister Sadanand Gowda is expected to meet the PM shortly on the issue.

"I will discuss the fare issue with the PM. A decision will be taken after the discussion," railway minister D V Sadanand Gowda told reporters.

Ahead of the rail budget, likely to be presented next month, the railways has sought significant increase in gross budgetary support. In the interim budget, railways got Rs 29,000 crore from the Centre's kitty as plan support.

"We have sought more budgetary support. There is need for more funds for national projects," Gowda said.

After meeting finance minister Arun Jaitley, the minister indicated that the rail budget is going to be different from the interim budget presented by his predecessor Mallikarjun Kharge.

"The finance minister has suggested some measures which will be reflected in the rail budget," he said, adding that several ways like FDI, PPP and bonds were discussed to fund rail projects.

The transporter had announced a hike on May 16 in both passenger fares and freight rates by 14.2% and 6.5% respectively on the basis of automatic fuel adjustment policy, but the decision was rolled back within hours leaving the decision to the new government.

The transporter, which is losing Rs 30 crore a day, was aiming to garner Rs 8000 crore through increase in passenger and freight charges last month.