(a) whether Railways have identified areas for private
participation and investment in development activities to
strengthen and expand Railways operations, network;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the projection of funds flowing from private
participation in development activities of Railways during
next five years?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI DIGVIJAY SINGH)
(a) to (c): A statement is attached.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (c) OF
LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 144 BY SHRI
ANNASAHEB M. K. PATIL TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.2.2000
REGARDING PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN EXPANSION OF RAIL
NETWORK:
(a) to (c): Yes Sir. The following areas have been
identified for private participation and investment:
1. The Build Own Lease Transfer (BOLT): The scheme seeks
to attract participation in building, construction or
manufacturing of railway assets through a lease agreement
with Indian Railways Under the scheme, Railways pay the
entrepreneur a lease rental for the asset for a pre-
specified period. Thereafter the asset is taken over by
Indian Railways for the remainder of its economic life.
Gauge conversion of Mudkhed –Adilabad section is being
undertaken by BOLT scheme and is intended to attract
investment to the tune of Rs. 132 crores.
2. Own Your Wagon Scheme: Under this scheme, a company or
a firm can procure wagons directly from the approved wagon
builders or through Indian Railways. The owner receives a
fixed return on the capital invested by him from Indian
Railways for the first 10 years and at a rate of 1 percent
for the next 10 years. The maintenance of wagons is
undertaken free of charge by Indian Railways. Indian
Railways assures transportation of the consignments of the
company on a priority basis.
As Own Your wagon scheme is a voluntary
scheme, no firm projections can be made.
3. Leveraging the right of way for communication channels.
4. Private Ownership of Tourist Trains, privatisation of
Yatri Niwases and hotels presently managed by Railways and
private participation in catering. As these proposals are in
the preliminary stage of formulation, it is difficult to
assess additional revenue that will be generated.
5. Leasing of Parcel Space.
6. Commercial utilisation of Land and Air space.
Commercial development of Railway land being new to the
Railways, it is proposed to proceed cautiously to protect
Railway’s rights and title over land. More over, property
market is uncertain and highly fluctuating. Therefore, it is
not possible to provide any estimate for the funds likely to
be generated from this exercise at the moment.
7 Public-private partnership for funding Railway
projects. Efforts are being made to involve the user
agencies such as Ports, Public Sector Undertakings as also
the State Governments in raising of resources and execution
of Railway projects. As this endeavor is still at a
preliminary stage, no firm projection can be made.