Liberalised policy for Railway Sector
Railways have announced liberalized policy for faster growth of the railway sector.
Major policy initiatives include:
· Introduction of innovative freight incentive schemes based on consignment volume, cargo aggregation and volume growth.
· Policy on movement of container trains by private operators.
· Encouraging Public partnerships and Public-private partnership schemes for effecting significant improvements in rail services and development and expansion of rail network.
The Railways have initiated same projects through joint venture by following a special purpose vehicle
The Infrastructure projects initiated through joint venture are:
· Surendranagar-Pipavav Gauge Conversion project costing Rs. 373 crores. Project is commissioned.
· Hassan-Mangalore Gauge Conversion Project costing Rs. 312 crores. Project is commissioned.
· Gandhidham-Palanpur Gauge Conversion
project costing Rs. 452 crores. Palanpur-Samakhiali is completed. Balance portion between Samakhiali-Gandhidham is targeted for completion during 2006-07.
Rail Vikas Nigam Limited is in the process of implementing certain projects through joint ventures.
Investment in wagons, running of container trains and luxury tourist trains, development of rail-side warehouses are some of the areas identified for private investment.
This information was given by Shri R.Velu, Minister of State for Railways in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
IKC/HK/CK/TR
(Release ID :19471)