The Hindu : Business : Railways plans Rs. 2.5 lakh crore investment in 5 years

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Railways plans Rs. 2.5 lakh crore investment in 5 years

Special Correspondent

Money to be spent on building world-class stations and setting up of rolling stock production units

Private players to part finance ambitious projects
Concessions for developers committing Rs. 25,000-cr. investment

NEW DELHI: Aimed at giving a major thrust to upgradation and modernisation of railway infrastructure and network, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Tuesday proposed a massive investment of Rs.2.5-lakh crore in the next five years. In his budget speech, Mr. Prasad also announced the biggest-ever annual Plan for the Railways, proposing an investment of Rs. 37,500 crore, which is 21 per cent more than the previous year.

“Money will be invested on building world-class stations, setting up of state-of-the-art rolling stock production units, terminals and constriction of multi-model logistic parks. For funding a large portion of this plan, use of internal resources and borrowings will be resorted to,” Mr. Prasad said.

Stating that help from private players would be taken to part-finance these ambitious projects, the Railway Minister hoped that Rs. 1-lakh crore would come from private players through the public-private partnership (PPP) route. It was difficult for the Railways to fully finance massive projects from its own resources, so that the PPP route would help them achieve the objectives. Global competitive bidding would be held so that world renowned companies could participate in developing the railway infrastructure, he added.

“Already top companies are showing interest in developing our railway stations and contract for the New Delhi station has already been awarded. Similar steps would be taken to develop railway stations in Patna, Secunderabad and Mumbai. Concessions will be awarded to developers who commit an investment of about Rs. 25,000 crore,” he said.

“We expect to attract an investment of nearly Rs. 15,000 crore on these stations. Through open competitive bidding, PPP partners would also be selected for setting up diesel loco, electric loco and rail coach factory at an estimated cost of Rs.4,000 crore,” Mr. Prasad added.

The Railway Minister also said an investment of Rs. 75,000 crore will be made over the next seven years to augment line capacity on identified routes to create the required capacity for carrying an additional 310 million tonnes.

“A blue print on the route-wise detailed study has been prepared and accordingly, route-wise works would be undertaken in a phased manner. This would include 124 works of laying second, third and fourth lines, constructing by-passes, flyovers, crossing stations, intermediate block stations, automatic signalling works and yard re-modelling,” he informed the Lok Sabha. The works include construction of the eastern and western corridors, he added.

The Railway Minister’s Annual Plan 2008-09 of Rs. 37,500 crore includes a total budgetary support of Rs. 7,874 crore, including Rs.774 crore to be provided from the Central Road Fund. The annual Plan will have ‘internal and external budgetary resources’ (IEBR) funding of 79 per cent.

The outlay for doubling works has been increased to Rs. 2,500 crore, traffic facility works to Rs. 984 crore and an outlay of Rs. 1,535 crore has been proposed for projects under implementation by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

Similarly, provision of Rs. 1,730 crore for new lines, Rs. 2,489 crore for gauge conversion, Rs. 626 crore for electrification and Rs. 650 crore for metropolitan transport projects has been made.

On safety related plan heads, provision has been made for Rs. 3,600 crore for track renewals, Rs. 1,520 crore for signal and telecommunication works, Rs. 700 crore for road over-bridges and road under-bridges and Rs. 600 crore for manning of unmanned level crossings.

The Railway Minister also sought additional funds to the tune of Rs. 1,712 crore from the Ministry of Finance for national projects of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla, Jiribam-Imphal Road, Dimapur-Kohima, Azra-Byrnihat and Kumarghat-Agartala new line, Bogibeel Rail-cum-Road Bridge and Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam, Rangia-Murkongselek gauge conversion.

Thanking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for clearing the funding of national projects in the North-eastern region, Mr. Prasad proposed to create a non-lapsable Northeast Rail Development Fund to expedite the track construction process in this region.

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