Finance Ministry is examining the suggestions of Bibek Debroy panel, which among other things had suggested phasing out separate railways budget, Parliament was informed today.
The Committee under the chairmanship of Debroy (Member, NITI Aayog) on restructuring of Ministry of Railways recommended that the British-era legacy of having a separate railway budget should be phased out and it should be merged with General Budget.
"The recommendations of the Committee are being examined by this Ministry, in consultation with Ministry of Railways," said Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
Replying to a question related to savings, the minister said the data from National Accounts reveal that in 2014-15, Indian households saved about 19.1 per cent of the GDP, of which their physical savings consisted of 11.4 percentage points and financial savings consisted of 7.7 percentage points.
This indicated that "Indian households save more in physical form than in financial assets," Meghwal said.
A NSSO survey during January-December 2013 revealed that about 82.2 per cent of the rural households and 81.1 per cent of the urban households reported possession of bullion and ornaments.
"The Strong bullion preference of Indian households, along with the generally high inflation and inadequate access of banking and financial channels that prevailed during the last decade, to a great extent, explained the saving behavior of Indian households," the Minister added.
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