Trivedi lauds states for role in projects

Notwithstanding the Planning Commissions suggestion to the Indian Railways to rely on the PPP route in the 12th Five Year Plan to meet the shortfall in budgetary support to prop railways

Notwithstanding the Planning Commissions suggestion to the Indian Railways to rely on the PPP route in the 12th Five Year Plan to meet the shortfall in budgetary support to prop railways,Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday lamented the lukewarm response to the railways PPP forays.

In contrast,Trivedi lauded state governments for their record of pitching with their resources for cost sharing of the socially desirable railways projects. Results of PPP efforts of the railways have not been encouraging, Trivedi told the Lok Sabha. He revealed that he was forced to review the PPP marketing schemes of the railways to make it more attractive for the private players.

He then went on to applaud the state governments role in sharing costs of core railway activities like laying down of new lines,guage conversions and doubling of railways tracks. I am happy to announce that the response from state governments has been quite encouraging, Trivedi said. In this context,he informed that 10 states,including Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal that is seeking fiscal concessions from the Centre otherwise,shared costs with railways for 31 railway projects totalling a length of 5,000 km.

In fact,Trivedi announced taking up four projects in three states Haryana one project,Andhra Pradesh 2 and West Bengal 1 on cost-sharing basis in the next fiscal. In addition,he announced that he had sent 12 projects from Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan,Jharkhand and Maharashtra for in-principle approval from the Planning Commission. The other states that have come forward to share costs with the Railways include Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand and Chhattishgarh. Karnataka is on the top with 14 projects with Railways on cost sharing basis in the 31 projects already under implementation.

Trivedi highlighted a couple of PPP projects in collaboration with state governments as the way forward. He said that a new PPP initiative to develop three rail corridors in Chhattisgarh was being taken forward in collaboration with the railways,Chhattisgarh government and the user industries of that region. He also highlighted how the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to share costs for rail connectivity between Pithampura and Kakinada to provide railways infrastructure to support the SEZ at Kakinada and the Petrol,Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region PCPIR along Kakinada-Vishakhapatnam coastal region.