Railways are aiming a net revenue of Rs 4,478.24 crore (Rs 44.78 billion) this year, higher than the Rs 4,225 crore (Rs 42.25 billion) projected by NDA government's Interim Budget in January, without any freight and passenger tariff hike while absorbing a much higher expenditure bill.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav set a target of Rs 873 crore (Rs 8.73 billion) as surplus earnings during 2004-05, up from Rs 620 crore (Rs 6.20 billion) set by Nitish Kumar while presenting the Interim Budget.

The robust net revenue earnings for 2004-05 is estimated to rise by about 8 per cent over the revised estimate of Rs 4,147 crore (Rs 41.47 billion) in the previous year mainly due to lower funds for pension and fuel costs.

However, the Budget this year has projected higher total working expenses of Rs 41,417 crore (Rs 414.17 billion) compared to the revised estimate of Rs 39,327 crore (Rs 393.27 billion) during 2003-04 because of repairs and rolling stock operations and general superintendence and services.

The NDA government, in its Interim Budget presented in January this year, had projected total working expenses of Rs 41,250 crore (Rs 412.50 billion) for 2004-05.

The appropriation to pension fund has been budgeted at Rs 6,290 crore (Rs 62.90 billion), a notch lower than the Rs 6,390 crore (Rs 63.90 billion) estimated by the previous government. However, allocation for pension was higher than the revised estimate of Rs 6,090 crore (Rs 60.90 billion) for 2003-04.