Railways were used to appease allies, says PM

Modi inaugurates revamp of Gandhinagar station; to have five star hotel on top

STARRY IDEA: Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a redevelopment project for the Gandhinagar railway station on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Railway Ministry “was used as a “bargaining tool” by the main ruling party to “distribute trophies to its allies.”

Speaking after he had laid the foundation stone for a Rs. 250-crore redevelopment plan for the Gandhinagar railway station, which includes building a 300-room five star hotel atop the station, Mr. Modi said: “The railway was left to its fate in earlier regimes. The allies of main political party used to demand the Railway Ministry to join the government. The party which came to power at the Centre also used the ministry as a bargaining tool to distribute trophies to its allies. This is a bitter truth.”

"We have accorded topmost priority to the development of railways," Mr Modi said, adding that his government is focused on development of railways shedding earlier practices. “Leaders from political parties who got the control of the railways were not interested in (development of) railways and I need not say what they were interested in,” he said.

Under the project, Gandhinagar railway station will be redeveloped through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed between the Gujarat government and the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd (IRSDC). The proposed name of the SPV is Gandhinagar Railway & Development Corporation Ltd.

The project includes redevelopment of the railway station and construction of a five star hotel atop the station. The hotel, with three towers, will be around 65 metres tall.

More stations

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said his ministry was planning to replicate such redevelopment at 23 railway stations across the country.

Later on Monday, while inaugurating India's first International Stock Exchange at the Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City near Gandhinagar, Mr Modi said India needs 30 crore new jobs in the next 20 years.

“It’s a huge endeavor," Mr Modi said, adding, "The smart cities are being created and will be generating jobs.”

“The India International Exchange will create new standards of quality in service and speed of transactions and it is an important milestone for creating 21st century infrastructure," Mr Modi said as he launched the trading activities in the new exchange set up by the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The new exchange aims to garner a piece of offshore banking activities from Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.

During his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Modi had envisaged creating an international financial services hub on the lines of Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong where offshore banking and financial services are transacted.

He added that in 10 years, GIFT city should become the price setter for at least a few of the largest trade instruments and the city will create several lakh new jobs in next few years.

The new exchange will start trading from January 16 and in the first phase, it will be trading in derivative products in equity, currency and commodities and subsequently, it will allow trading in other financial products as well.

"India is in excellent time zone between west and east and GIFT city can provide facility through day and night. This exchange will start when the Japanese market starts and close when U.S. market will close, so it will work for 22 hours," Mr Modi said, recounting his meeting with BSE management in 2013 when he requested them to set up an international exchange in Gujarat.