Indian Railways is requesting Coal India to develop railway stations that support its sidings. This was stated by AK Mittal, Member-Infrastructure, Railway Board, while speaking at a PHDCCI conference.

The Railways has set itself a target to develop over 20 stations this year.

“The railway station development programme is also facing some challenges at present,” Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC’s) Sanjeev Lohia said.

Priority task

In a related move, according to a Northern Railway press release, the Northern Railways’ General Manager reiterated that station improvement and station redevelopment plans would be among the priority tasks during the current year.

The Railways is pursuing multi-pronged strategies – such as redevelopment through IRSDC through expert bodies such as SNCF (French Railways) and Ministry of Tourism on cost-sharing basis and through public-private partnership models without straining Railways’ finances, the release said.

Retrofitting of coaches

Meanwhile, there is an opportunity for Indian firms in retrofitting 40,000 coaches, which involves an expense of ₹ 20 lakh per coach, R Gupta, Member-Rolling Stock, Railway Board, told the PHDCCI meet.

There is also opportunity for Indian firms in developing 6,000 coaches.

He added that the Railways spends ₹700-800 crore a year on cleaning activities under the Swachh Bharat initiative. This also provides a huge opportunity for the private sector to partner with the Railways, he added.

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