Railways to raise Rs1,00,000 crore to fund modernisation
18 Feb 2012
Indian Railways is evaluating options for raising Rs1,00,000 crore in the next five years, to fund introduction of new coaches, overhauling of the signaling system and elimination of level crossings to improve safety of passengers as per the recommendations of a high-level committee, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi said today.
The committee, headed by former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Dr Anil Kakodkar, was formed in September last year, in the wake of two major railway accidents. The committed presented the report to the government yesterday. In addition to Kakodkar, the committee included former chairman of the Delhi Metro Rail Corp, E Sreedharan.
Among the proposed financing measures were raising Rs5,000 crore by imposing safety cess on passengers, grants from central government and deferred dividend payment.
The Railways is also looking to generate Rs4,000 crore by utilisation of its land bank.
According to Kakodkar, though data of consequential train accidents over the years had been declining, despite phenomenal growth of traffic, safety issue of Indian Railways remained a matter of serious concern.
The safety levy was introduced by Nitish Kumar, who as railway minister had levied a surcharge following a spate of accidents. The levy was subsequently withdrawn by Lalu Prasad Yadav, citing Railway's robust financial health and its ability to fund modernisation and safety on its own.
Erstwhile railway minister and Trivedi's processor Mamata Banerjee had acquired the dubious distinction of being the only railway minister to have stayed away from dividend payment.
The financial state of Indian Railways was critical and warranted some concrete measures, according to the committee.
