India Inc has welcomed the higher planned outlay for public-private-partnership investments and said the Budget is realistic in acknowledging the problems faced in implementation of projects.

Rana Kapoor, President, Assocham , said for the first-time perhaps, the Railways Minister’s Budget speech read like the speech of a ₹1.47 lakh crore corporation which is wanting to go about servicing its customers.

Kapoor said: “A clear strategy has been spelt out to retrieve the Railways’ share in the freight movement.

Though the freight movement gives over two-third revenue to the organisation, it had been neglected in the past.”

Abhaya Agarwal, Partner-Infrastructure Practice, EY , said: “Even though the planned outlay for PPP investments has risen, the Railways has been unsuccessful in the past in meeting the target. The focus should be to create a conducive environment to attract private sector participation, especially since the Expert Group for Modernisation of Indian Railways headed by Sam Pitroda has envisaged PPP investment to the tune of ₹4.13 lakh crore over the next 10 years.”

Industry chamber CII said the Rail Budget has presented a broad vision on what needs to be done in this critical sector in order to upgrade infrastructure and improve operational efficiency.

Ajay S Shriram, President, CII , said: “The Minister has been realistic and candid in acknowledging the problems faced in implementation of projects and improving revenue realisation.”

Manish Agarwal, Leader Capital Projects and Infrastructure, PwC India , added: “The Railway Budget is quite practical in focusing on completing ongoing projects, and enabling online tracking of project status.

Focus on one bullet train initially, and upgrading existing infrastructure for higher speeds on other sectors, is a good balance between affordability and desire.

Some thought seems to have been given on the need for different PPP models (user-charge based, annuities), as well as potential areas for leveraging PPP capability; however, given the limited success on station-modernisation projects so far, the implementation roll-out remains to be seen.”

The Minister has tried to put the Railways back on track and attempted a balance between commercial and social obligations, said FICCI President Sidharth Birla .

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