Cell in place to see through public-private rly projects

Continuing with its recent fascination with the Public Private Partnership mantra, the Railway Ministry has set up a special cell to look into the projects...

Continuing with its recent fascination with the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mantra, the Railway Ministry has set up a special cell to look into the projects which are to be executed through the PPP way.

‘‘We have set up a PPP cell comprising senior officials to monitor projects which can be executed through the PPP way,’’ said Railway Board Chairman J P Batra in his concluding remarks at the end of the two-day PPP convention organised by the Railways.

Till date, Indian Railways has implemented three projects — Surendranagar-Pipavav gauge conversion project, Palampur-Gandhidham gauge conversion project (both in Gujarat) and Hassan-Mangalore gauge conversion project (in Karnataka)—through the Joint Venture route by floating Special Purpose Vehicles.

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However, a host of areas have been identified where the ministry is keen to encourage PPP. These include special economic zones, multi modal logistics hubs, setting up of inland container depots, development of passenger hubs, and remote area connectivity. ‘‘Having these SEZs connected through a rail network would enhance their competitiveness,’’ said a senior Railway Board official.

“There is a growing thinking in the ministry about developing strategically located hubs on BOT basis to capture agro-industrial produce in the hinterland and to provide them with competitive transport.

Remote area-connectivity is another area where the Railways is hoping to rope in private players and construct newer lines through SPVs. By its own admission, Indian Railways has around 230 pending projects which need a whopping Rs 50,000 crore to be completed. A key factor in Railways gameplan is to procure funds through PPP for newer projects and utilise its existing resources to complete these pending projects.