The Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway network in the world and the biggest employers. As of 2013 the Railways had 12,335 passenger trains transporting around 30 million passengers daily. Also, 975.2 million tonnes of freight were transported through trains in 2013 year. The approximate earnings of Indian Railways during the period April 1-Dec 31, 2013 stood at Rs 101,665.95 crore (US$ 16.19 billion) as against Rs 89,701.14 crore ( US$ 14.29 billion) in the corresponding period of 2012, which was an increase of 13.34 per cent.
The total goods earnings during the same period was Rs 68,782.53 crore (US$ 10.96 billion), a 10.91 per cent increase on the Rs 62,016.30 crore (US$ 9.88 billion) accumulated during the corresponding period of 2012. Indian Railways carried 769.74 mt of revenue earning freight traffic during the period April 1-Dec 31, 2013.
This was an increase of 34.52 mt and a hike of 4.70 per cent over the 735.22 mt carried during the corresponding period of 2012. The Ministry of Home Affairs has finally given the green signal to the proposal of allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in railways. Once this is cleared, foreign investors can hold stake in special-purpose vehicles meant for PPP in construction projects. The move could enable the Railways to achieve its target of Rs 60,000 crore (US$ 9.56 billion). An outlay of US$ 95.6 billion has been sanctioned by the Planning Commission for Railways for the 12th Five-Year Plan.
For the current fiscal, the budget has reserved an outlay of US$ 11.7 billion for the railways sector. Additionally, US$ 1.1 billion is projected to come through the PPP route. The Ministry of Railway projects a 9 per cent increase in freight earnings to US$ 17.2 billion in fiscal 2014, with passenger earnings expected to touch US$ 7.8 billion.
INDIAN RAILWAYS AT A GLANCE IN 2013 - 2014 
