The Hindu Business Line : Scope for pvt participation in Railways, says Nitish

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he said the Surendranagar-Pipavav gauge conversion in Gujarat was taken up with private participation, and Mundra Port Authority had built 57-km of railway line up to Gandhidam. However, he ruled out privatisation of Indian Railways and termed it impossible.

The Minister stated that "concessioning" some of the loss-making railways lines is under study. By concessioning, the Government will continue to own the infrastructure while awarding long-term rights to the private sector to manage the infrastructure. "Concessioning of one or two railway lines is likely to help minimise loss," he added.

He denied "regionalism" in appointments in the Railways, and added that people having local knowledge will be advantageous to its operation. Therefore, it has been decided to give wide publicity to recruitments in it. To help local people, regional languages will be included in the examination during recruitment procedure. After him becoming the Minister, he had handed over the recruitment of Group `D' employees to Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), he said. There are plans to attach railway divisions to 19 RRBs on regional basis to help the local people.

He stated that the Union Government, which has 230 railway projects in hand, requires Rs 44,000 crore for the completion of these projects. These projects are likely to be completed in eight to 10 years. All these projects are being taken up on fast-track route.

On the allocation of funds for railway projects, he said the Ministry had decided to allot funds for projects in various States based on a clear and transparent formula. In this, weightage was given to area of the State, the population, and throw forward (money required to complete all pending projects) of projects in the ratio 15 per cent, 15 per cent, and 70 per cent, respectively.

He said the Rs 15,000-crore Rashtriya Rail Vikas Yojana is aimed at removing capacity bottlenecks in critical sections of the Railways.

Mr Kumar claimed that the creating seven new railway zones had benefited the Railways a lot. Their formation has helped in improving efficiency and earnings. Besides, there has been an increase of 7 per cent in passenger traffic and 28 per cent in goods traffic after the formation of the South-Western Railway, headquartered in Hubli, he added.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
No easy take-off for pvt airlines to SAARC nations

Change in IA flight schedule

Review of Maritime Transport 2003 — India down a notch

Iron ore movement at Kolkata dock

`Kerosene permit not cancelled for fishermen'

Maritime university — Time to bring skilled manpower on board

Scope for pvt participation in Railways, says Nitish

Mangalore-Bangalore Rly line to be operational by Jan 2005

Contractors for highway projects — Govt revamps selection process