Regulatory framework vital for private participation in railways
The Union Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, on Monday, pitched for a regulatory mechanism to attract and check the flow of private capital into the Railways sector. The minister said the regulatory mechanism will ensure that private investments do not affect the public functioning in the sector in any way. The Union minister advocated the need for setting up of such a regulatory body, which should be independent from the service provider for attracting private players. “A regulatory mechanism is specifically required for it. That is why, we are having regulatory framework so that private participation does not compromise public interest, does not hamper public function,” said the minister, according to the sources. “Private players also need not worry about the security of their investment. We have to trade off the balance between private and public,” he added. A road-map for the proposed mechanism is yet to be planned and the NITI Ayog vice-chairman Arvind Pangaria has been requested for the same, the minister said. On the sector’s projects involving private players, the minister said the Indian Railways is offering projects relating to capacity augmentation, betterment of passenger amenities and high-speed services, among others, for private participation. The minister said that his department is also planning a strategy for implementing an integrated transport solution and an integrated ticketing system (to be valid in metro, bus, train) to address the fall in number of passengers due to lack of point to point transport facility in railways. Besides, the Ministry of Railways will also come up with a strategy to provide wi-fi facility in the rail premises. The minister said, through RailTel, the department will come up with a concept covering around 100 stations in the first year and then will be extended to all the remaining stations in the next two to three years. In a statement yesterday, the Minister had ruled out the idea of privatizing the railways sector, notwithstanding the panel recommendations. “We want change not for the change in ownership. We do not want change for somebody to run the precious assets of railways. We want to bring in private capital or technology to improve the functioning of railways so that railways become more valuable," the minister added. Getting private investments and private technology participation in the railways sector does not amount to privatization, he clarified.
May 4, 2015 | 7:41 pm IST.
to success.