State governments, private firms can now develop railway stations near sezs

By Express News Service   Published: 27th August 2016 

BENGALURU: State governments which have created Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can partner with private entities and invest in the development of railway stations near such zones, suggested Adviser-Finance, Railway Board, P V Vaidyalingam.

Speaking at a meet on ‘Infrastructure Development and Resource Mobilisation’, here on Friday, Vaidyalingam who is also the Managing Director of Indian Railway Finance Corporation said the Railways was poised for huge growth in the passenger, freight, parcel and hospitality segments.

“There is a need for large-scale participation by financial institutions to take the growth further,” he said. Expanding the freight basket, opening up of container service for all commodities and monetisation of land are also on the cards, he added.

Executive Director of Resource Mobilisation, Indian Railways, Namita Mehrotra, said that reform initiatives in Railways will lead to ‘on demand’ reserved accommodation and time-tabled freight trains.

“High-end technology will be deployed for passenger safety and zero direct discharge of human waste on railway tracks by the end of 2020,” said Namita.

Sanjiv Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru division, said, “Areas like redevelopment of stations, logistic parks and rolling stock manufacturing process require the active participation of banks and financial Institutions.

Ashok Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer, South Western Railway, highlighted the funding done by the National Thermal Power Corporation in creating the Hotgi-Kudgi new line.

The meet was organised by the Indian Railways. Various state government officials and representatives of financial institutions and private investors participated.