Indian Railways needs to shell out more than Rs 14 lakh crore over the next ten years for network extension and mordenisation, industry body ASSOCHAM has said.
“Indian Railways is neither efficient nor has a network extensive enough to cover the entire country with its capacity expansion and modernisation estimated to cost more than Rs 14 lakh crore over the next ten years,” a statement released by the ASSOCHAM said.
It has reommended to emphasis more on developing entrepreneurial and managerial skills that private sector can bring into rail transport with value addition for the end user.
According to Assocham, Indian Railways should adopt a customer focused approach and modern technology through public private partnership in construction of dedicated freight corridors, high speed rail corridors, world-class railway stations and multi-modal logistics parks.
"PPP projects can set up special purpose vehicles for manufacturing of locomotives, coaches and wagons," ASSOCHAM secretary general DS Rawat said.
Indian Railways is the third largest network in the world with 14 lakh employees and an annual budget of Rs 57,630 crore.
