The Railways Ministry on Thursday signed an MoU with the Odisha government to set up a joint venture company for development of rail infrastructure in the state.
According to the MoU, a joint venture company will be formed with 51 per cent share of the state government and rest with the ministry.
"The company will primarily identify projects and possible financing avenues in addition to the state and central government. After finances for a project are tied up, project specific Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) shall be formed. These SPVs can have other stakeholders from public sector undertakings," said a ministry statement.
"However the the joint venture companies shall be mandatory stakeholders with minimum 26 per cent share in the SPVs."
The most important aspect of the MoU is that the land ownership will vest with the SPVs so that it can exploit its commercial potential.
"At the end of the concession period, the railways will have option to take over the assets at nominal price," it added.
So far seven states - Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala - have signed these MoUs, while 17 states have agreed to this proposal, announced by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu in his budget speech.
--IANS
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