Projects include 50 world-class stations, medical and nursing colleges, logistics parks and cold storage facilities.
Indian Railways is betting big on public-private partnerships (PPPs) to get a slew of new projects off the ground and kick off new initiatives to enhance freight revenues.
These include the construction of 50 world-class stations, medical and nursing colleges, logistics parks and cold storage facilities, all through the PPP mode.
The biggest is on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which will include industrial hubs, rail port connectivity, logistics parks and mega power plants — all through PPP.
‘‘It is very refreshing even to think that Mamata Banerjee has gone into the PPP mode, given her background. She is talking about things, like stations, that are extremely doable through the PPP mode,’’ said Akhileshwar Sahay, president, infrastructure advisory division, Feedback Ventures.
Sahay says for PPPs to work in, say, station modernisation, it is important to come out of the mental block of a model concession agreement, as every site will have a specific problem.
Hence, the railways should adopt a case-by-case approach. ‘‘They may look identical, but every concession is different. It needs to be innovative,’’ Sahay said.
Feedback Ventures chairman Vinayak Chatterjee feels it would be easier to structure and implement PPP projects in social infrastructure projects like colleges or real estate projects like modernisation of stations.
But these may not make much headway in projects intertwined to mainstream railway operations.
‘‘The initiatives are laudable. But the key challenge lies in its implementation,’’ said Gajendra Haldea, principal advisor (infrastructure), Planning Commission. Sahay also feels it is important to create early-bird success stories in PPP, which can have a cascading effect.
To increase railways’ share of freight traffic, the rail budget proposes to increase PPP here, too, in a big way. It will encourage private ownership of special purpose rolling stock for commodities and private operation of freight terminals. And unveil a new policy to allow construction and operation of private freight terminals and multi-modal logistics parks. It will also allow containers to access private sidings, to attract piecemeal traffic presently not being carried by the railways.
There is also mention of improving the loading of coal, iron ore, cement, fertilisers, and foodgrains. It also also wants to increase its share of new traffic streams like automobiles and fly ash.
To meet the high demand for EMU/MEMU coaches (used in suburban trains) and Metro coaches, the proposal is for a factory to manufacture 500 coaches yearly at Kanchrapara-Halisahar in West Bengal, to be set up in a joint venture or through PPP.
Experts say the Railways and its bureaucracy need to change their mindset for PPPs to work.
‘‘The officials in the government, and more so in the railways, are not open to new ideas. They want to make everything from engines to mineral water. Their mindset doesn’t let go of their control,’’ says an expert.
PPPs are not new to the railways. Even Lalu Prasad proposed many projects in his successive budgets but few have succeeded.
What the private sector will watch out for is if Mamata can shake the bureaucracy and get the PPPs going.
