Railways Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar welcomed the proposal to allow foreign investment in railways while clearly stating that operations would remain in the hands of the proper authorities.
Speaking to ANI, he said, "The Indian Railways needs large funds for expansion and infrastructure. We have our own shelf of projects where we need to invest so we identified those areas where we need to augment resources from somewhere else, domestic or foreign."
Taking the example of a proposed high speed corridor and a dedicated freight line, Kumar said, "It is attracting private investment, it is not privatizing the railways. We are only expanding operations. Till now, the railways was not an open sector: it was a prohibited sector for FDI and domestic FDI. However, through this route we seek to open FDI in nine sectors. We expect a paradigm shift as far as passenger benefits is concerned.