Question

During the year 2006-07 Indian Railways earned a profit of approximately

• A. Rs. 20,000 crores
• B. Rs. 14,000 crores
• C. Rs. 18,000 crores
• D. Rs. 16,500 crores

Hint:

This was the year Indian Railways' freight and pricing reforms made headlines for a record profit.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks about the approximate profit earned by Indian Railways during the financial year 2006-07.

Step 2: Key Fact or Approach:
Around the mid 2000s, Indian Railways went through a widely reported financial turnaround, moving from years of losses and low surplus to record profit levels.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Under the railway ministry of that period, changes such as better freight wagon utilisation, higher axle loads, and more flexible, demand based passenger fare and freight pricing raised revenue sharply without needing a big fare hike.
This turnaround was widely reported at the time as producing a profit of about Rs. 20,000 crores for the year 2006-07, a figure that was seen as remarkable for a government run rail network of that size.
The other figures listed, Rs. 14,000 crores, Rs. 18,000 crores, and Rs. 16,500 crores, are all lower than the actual reported number and do not match the figure that was widely cited in the press and in Parliament for that year.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Indian Railways earned an approximate profit of Rs. 20,000 crores in 2006-07, so option (A) is correct.