Which one of the following was not the feature of Interim rail Budget, 2014-15 ?

The correct answer is D. The interim rail budget presented by Sadanand Gowda in February 2014 was a caretaker, vote-on-account style document, so it avoided major structural changes.

• A is a feature: the interim budget kept passenger fares and freight charges unchanged.
• B is a feature: it announced about 72 new trains, covering premium, express and passenger services.
• C is a feature: it promised that Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, would soon be brought onto the rail map.
• D is not a feature: the cost-sharing arrangements with states that the question describes were not part of the interim package. Cost-sharing for new lines became a clearer theme in the full Budget 2014-15 presented in July 2014 by Suresh Prabhu, which emphasised state participation in projects.

Core concept: the difference between an interim budget, which carries forward policy and makes limited announcements, and a full budget, which sets new policy direction. For Mains, this links to railway financing models such as public-private partnerships and state-share projects.

Trap: candidates pick D because it sounds like a plausible policy measure. Check whether the specific claim about named states and a named agreement appears in the interim announcements before accepting it.