Gowda proposes FDI, PPP projects Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday proposed to bring in foreign and private players to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of revamping the sector while providing safety and amenities to passengers. In the new government’s maiden Rail Budget, Gowda did not announce a fresh fare hike but said periodic revision in passenger fare and freight will be linked to fuel adjustment of costs once in six months. The pre-budget hike of 14.2 per cent on fares and 6.5 per cent on freight rates will fetch Rs 8,000 crore, he said. Gowda also announced 58 new trains, including a bullet train. Blaming his predecessors for the poor state of Railways, Gowda said the Cabinet has been asked to clear Foreign Direct Investment in railway infrastructure and new projects would be taken up through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) route to meet the resource crunch. Modi’s pet project of running bullet trains will be implemented on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route at a cost of Rs 60,000 crore. He said railway PSUs would be asked to bring in surplus funds for investment in infrastructure projects. “Bulk of our future projects will be financed through PPP mode, including the high-speed rail which requires huge investments.” Gowda announced the highest-ever annual plan outlay of Rs 65,445 crore for Railways, with the gross budgetary support of Rs 30,100 crore, Railway Safety Fund of Rs 2,200 crore, internal resources Rs 15,350 crore, external market borrowing Rs 11,790 crore and EBR-PPP Rs 6,005 crore. Gowda also toed Modi’s line: Railway finances would not be allowed to dwindle in the name of fulfilling social obligation. “The projects chosen in the past in the name of social viability were populist in nature, bringing hardly any revenue to the Railways. Investments were made in non-remunerative projects,” Gowda asserted. He proposed a solution in which Railways would not be spending on non-revenue projects. The budget, however, aims to ensure better amenities for passengers. With the help of high-end technologies and the participation of private players. Gowda not only promised to earn and govern, but also assured safety, cleanliness and modern facilities at stations. The budget for cleanliness was increased by 40 per cent. CCTV cameras would monitor cleaning work and NGOs and corporates would participate in ensuring amenities to passengers. The minister said all major stations would have foot-overbridges, escalators and lifts. Advanced technology would be used for rail-flaw detection to check cause of accidents. The budget proposed a pilot project on automatic door closing in mainline and suburban coaches. In order to ensure women’s safety while travelling, the Railways will recruit 4,000 more women constables. Gowda announced revamping railway reservation system into next-generation e-ticketing. He also proposed real-time tracking of trains and rolling stocks, mobile based wake-up call system and destination arrival alert for passengers besides Wi-fi Services in A-1 and A category stations and in select trains. To address the issue of poor quality of food, the minister proposed ready to eat food and third-party audit of catering system. In consonance with his earlier assertions, Gowda increased allocation to safety. “It is estimated that over Rs 40,000 crore would be needed for track renewals, elimination of unmanned level crossing and construction of road -under-bridges and road-over-bridges,” he said.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 15:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015