First reactions from the opposition on the government's decision to merge the Rail Budget with the Union Budget.

JDU chief Nitish Kumar, who was a railway minister: "Merging rail budget and general budget won't do any good, it will lose its autonomy."

The Rail Budget will be merged with the Union Budget starting next year. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley described the move as "top priority" after the Cabinet gave its approval.

Jaitley said the government is also in favour of advancing the Budget process, including the date of presentation. Dates for next year's budget session of Parliament, he said, would be fixed taking into account the calendar for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand due early next year.