Comments
The Government has notified new foreign direct investment norms for the Railways allowing 100 per cent foreign investments through the automatic route in a number of areas.
These include suburban corridor projects through the public private partnership (PPP) route, high-speed train systems, rolling stock including trans sets, coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities, railway electrification, signalling systems, freight terminals, passenger terminals and infrastructure in industrial parks like railway line and sidings.
However, FDI will not be allowed in train operations and safety.
The decisions are in line with the decision taken by the Union Cabinet earlier this month.
“We have done our bit and liberalised the FDI policy. Now it is for the Railways to take advantage of it and use it effectively to attract investments,” a DIPP official told Business Line . The Railways is suffering from a cash-crunch of ₹29,000 crore, according to industry estimates.
According to a press note issued by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion on Tuesday, proposals involving FDI beyond 49 per cent in sensitive areas will be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Securityfor approval. The Railway Ministry would do so on a case-to-case basis.
Definitions of “infrastructure” and “common facilities” have also been widened to include railway line/sidings.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.