Title - Railways seeks Cabinet approval of PPP models

NEW DELHI: Realizing the need to mobilize private investment, the cash-starved railways has approached the Union Cabinet for approval of its Public Private Partnership (PPP) models to attract funds for its stalled and new projects.

The fresh move has come after the national transport realized the need to make more investor-friendly policies.

Railways' note to the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) has argued that measures such as Railway Infrastructure Investment Initiative (R3i) and rail connectivity to coal and iron ore mines had failed to attract expected investment from the private sector.

After inter-ministerial consultations and talks with stakeholders, the transporter has proposed that customers setting up sea ports and large mines needed efficient railway connectivity for which the provision of first-to-last mile connectivity should be construed as an integral part of the main project.

The note has proposed that rail connectivity to ports and mines would be developed by the owner or concessionaire as private railway lines by acquiring land and making investments in it. "This would be declared as a non-government railway (NGR) for public carriage of goods," it said.

The concessionaire will provide fixed infrastructure and funding. Also, the construction, maintenance and renewal of assets will be done by them.

For another PPP model, the transporter said for many doubling/third or fourth line projects which promise quick pay-off, some of these lines could be taken up under competitive bidding through an annuity model for concession periods raging between 15-20 years.