PIB News Update : Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal has informed that Ministry of Railways (MoR) has taken initiatives in various areas viz. network expansion, setting up of locomotive factories, induction of railway wagons, Station Re-Development etc. to attract private investment and participation.
Ministry of Railways had formulated Participative Policy 2012, to encourage private investment in providing Railways connectivity. Under this policy, so far, 13 projects of ₹ 6,176 Crore have already been completed through PPP mode. 11 projects of ₹ 22,098 Crore are under implementation including coal connectivity and port connectivity projects and in addition, 7 more projects of ₹ 13,421 Crore have already been given in-principle approval.
There is a proposal to outsource the commercial and on board services of few trains and to permit private players to induct around 150 modern rakes with the objective to induct ‘state of the art’ rolling stock to provide world class travel experience to passengers. The responsibility of train operations and safety certification rests with Indian Railways.
Re-Development of Habibganj Station has been undertaken through Public Private Partnership (PPP). In addition, Request for Qualification (RFQ) have been invited for four more stations i.e. Nagpur, Gwalior, Amritsar and Sabarmati Stations on PPP mode.