The Railways plans to engage with industry in a major way via the public-private partnership (PPP) route.
Presenting the budget for fiscal 2013-14, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said that big infrastructure projects like freight corridors, elevated rail corridor in Mumbai and redevelopment of stations would be done via the PPP route.
Bansal said that under the PPP model, private entities would build railway tracks linking ports, large mines and industries. The private sector will be paid back their share of investment mainly through freight apportionment.
The ministry plans to generate `6,000 crore via PPP in 2013-14. The PPP policy will be a win-win situation for the Railways and industry. By investing in construction of railway tracks, the companies will be able to transport goods at a faster speed from remote areas of the country to the mainland, which will reduce their turnaround time. The participative policy would ensure that the Railways has enabling partnership with companies that run ports, large mines and industries so that an investment of `9,000 crore pours in for these projects. This amount would include `3,800 crore port connectivity rail link, `4,000 for rail link to coal mines and `800 crore for rail link to iron mines.
Bansal said that a signaling equipment factory would be set up in Chandigarh via the PPP route.