``The paper will deal mainly with challenges and expectations before the railways. We will discuss it in Parliament and also seek opinion from experts,'' Kumar said at a press conference after signing the memorandum of understanding for the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation. The railway administration plays a dual role, commercial as well as social. While the commercial branch earns revenue via freight charges, it has been incurring losses due to its social obligations, he said.

``We shall have to strike a balance between the two branches. At the same time, we shall also have to examine how much we can raise freight charges as these have their limits,'' he said.

On the new Konkan Railway Corporation, Kumar said: ``It has been incurring losses amounting to Rs 1.50 crore every day, but that will not be the situationforever. In the next four to five years, I am sure it will become a profit-making organisation owing to industrialisation of the Konkan region,'' he added. To a question, he said after the Vajpayee government came to power, it had scrapped 17 of the 19 Railway Recruitment Boards following complaints against their chairpersons. Senior officials have been appointed on an ad hoc basis to head these boards, he added.