The ongoing modernisation of railways may boost the country’s gross domestic product by about 3 per cent over a period of time, Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu said. Railway Ministry was on track to spend Rs 1 lakh crore as budgeted this fiscal and about 103 announcements made in the FY16 railway budget have been implemented with several stations showing marked improvement in cleanliness, Mr. Prabhu said during his address at the Annual General Meeting of the industry chamber, Assocham. He added that projects were being awarded in a transparent manner and “not a single rupee tender comes to the minister.”Funds were raised at an affordable rate from the LIC “which is just above the G-Sec (government security) rate paid in 30 years.” The Railways’ capex spend includes a Rs 40,000 crore order to General Electric Co. (GE) and Alstom to set up locomotive factories in Bihar. The minister had recently said the capex plans included Rs 82,000 crore for a Dedicated Freight Corridor project, a move which has the union cabinet nod.The ministry is also planning to redevelop 400 stations through open bids called the Swiss Challenge method, a form of public procurement. Besides considering port connectivity projects, the ministry is also planning to use revenue from clients such as Steel Authority of India and Coal India on coal evacuation projects. The ministry is also discussing the creation of a $30 billion fund with the World Bank to finance key rail projects.
