With a view to improve freight earnings, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today proposed to have increased focus on dedicated freight corridors and emphasised on private sector participation in developing rail infrastructure.
Presenting the Railway Budget 2009-10 in Lok Sabha, Banerjee said a new policy would be unveiled for developing private freight terminals and setting up of logistics parks under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
"Several measures are being taken to improve the proportion of freight traffic moving on railways. A new policy would be unveiled to allow construction and operation of private freight terminals and multi-model logistic parks," Banerjee said in Parliament.
Railways are also in the process of bringing together state governments and major logistics players to set up logistics parks, co-habited by multiple players through "participative funding", she added.
"Mega logistics hubs are being planned alongside the proposed Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors," she said.
Terming the dedicated Western and Eastern freight corridors as landmark ones, Banerjee declared it as "Diamond Rail Corridors" project of the Indian Railways.