Railways to use PPP model for upgrading infrastructure: Bansal

Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Sunday that the cash-strapped Railways would adopt the public private partnership (PPP) model for modernising and upgrading the railway infrastructure.

The minister, who was in Sangrur and Barnala districts of Punjab to lay the foundation stones for new railway projects, said that Rs1.10 lakh crore would be generated through the PPP mode for implementing the Railways' revamping plan.

"Railways is failing in mobilising the required funds through internal sources. The annual plan for the ongoing fiscal has been cut short by over Rs4,000 crore and the plan outlay has been reduced from earlier Rs60,100 crore to Rs55,900 crore," he said.

An investment of Rs5.6 lakh crore is required to modernise Indian railways, he said.

Bansal, who is from Tapa town of Barnala district, said, "The railways has chalked out ambitious plans for doubling the tracks, electrification, laying of new railway lines and manufacture of coaches in the next five years. All this will be done in PPP mode."

Bansal said that railways will need about 30,000 more coaches in the coming years and for this, all the states have been asked to provide land on which railways will set up coach factories. "Both Punjab and Haryana have already shown keen interest in the plan," said Bansal.

He said that at present there are 14,000 unmanned railway crossings in India and the railways is inching towards making these manned in a phased manner.

Bansal said that the Kolkata-Ludhiana and Delhi-Mumbai freight corridors will be completed during the next five years.