Daily Times

The revenue of Pakistan Railway has increased from Rs47,587.9 million in 2019-20 to Rs48,651.7 million in 2020-21, registering an increase of around Rs1,063.8 million.

“Pakistan Railways earned Rs48,651.7 million during 2020-21 as compared to Rs47,587.9 million during 2019-20,” an official told the state-run news agency.

The official said the working expenses of Pakistan Railways have also decreased to Rs95,883.8 million in 2020-21 as compared to Rs97,740.4 million in 2019-20. He said that accounts of Pakistan Railways for the financial year 2018-19 and 2019-20 had been audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP). Similarly, accounts of the financial year 2020-21 would also be audited by the same authority, he added.

He said the AGP was responsible to express an opinion on these financial statements based on audit in accordance with the requirements of Article 169 and 170 (2) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The official said the reports were regularly submitted to the Public Accounts Committee.

Regarding the up-gradation of Main Line-I, he said it was a flagship railway infrastructure project under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which ECNEC approved in August 2020 at a rationalized cost of $6.806.

He said the project had been planned to be executed in three packages while preliminary design of the project had been completed and a formal request for the loan for package-I had been conveyed to the Chinese side through the Economic Affairs Division (EAD).

The execution of the project was tied with the ongoing financial negotiations between the high level financing committees of China and Pakistan, the official added. During the last four meetings held between these financing committees, he said the significant progress has been made on loan terms and physical execution would commence right after the formal commitment of loan for package-I from the Chinese side.