Railway minister Suresh Prabhu appointed Ratan Tata – India’s best brand ambassador, to head the ‘Kayakulp’ Committee. This Council will recommend innovation and processes to turn around the gargantuan Indian Railways.
Minister Suresh Prabhu is a man of action, he has not only appointed Ratan Tata but is also expected to rope in former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai to bring in much needed transparency in Railway’s processes and financial actions. He roped in LIC to invest 1.5 Lakh crore in Indian railways and appointed former DIPP Secretary Ajay Shanker to overhaul the ministry’s PPP cell, to bring in private investment which has until now proved very challenging because of poor investor interest and lack of co-ordination among various wings of government. According to Construction World http://tinyurl.com/pq8qxcl, Railways could attract only Rs 8,000 crore from private investors during the 11th five-year plan against a target of Rs 50,000 crore.
Getting Tata, an Engineer from Cornell and a Harvard Business School graduate on board is an achievement for Suresh Prabhu, who had earlier refused Praful Patel’s request to head an advisory board of Air India. Ratan Tata was the Chairman of Tata Sons till 2012 and transformed the group into a $103. 27 billion group, that operates in over 80 countries, has over 100 operating business, a history dating back to 1868 which has stood the test of time no less than 150 years. 