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Our Bureau

New Delhi , July 7

The Railway Board has started working for presenting its dedicated freight corridor proposal to the Group of Ministers, with the Government decision to refer the matter to GoM. "We are preparing for the presentation of our case to the GoM," the Railway Board Chairman, Mr J.P. Batra, told Business Line.

When asked about the issues on which the Finance Ministry had raised concerns, Mr Batra said, "The fundamental concern was on the fact that given the huge project size and that more funds would be required later, the Ministry wanted to know how the resources would be raised, what would be the revenue stream, amongst others."

The Cabinet note that had been sent was regarding the setting up of SPV only. The detailed business plan is yet to be finalised.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to refer to a Group of Ministers the proposal for setting up a dedicated rail freight corridor. The Indian Railways had recently circulated a Cabinet note to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the rail freight corridor.

"The matter has been referred to a Group of Ministers which will be constituted soon," the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

The Finance Ministry is learnt to have raised several questions on the Cabinet note floated by the Railway Ministry.

RITES study

The Railways had proposed to hold a majority stake in the SPV, which would be in charge of infrastructure, including tracks and signalling system, whereas the Railways would maintain the rolling stock.

Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) — a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways — is doing a detailed feasibility study for the project which is likely to be completed by the end of the year.

A final location survey would also be undertaken.

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