Lok Sabha Question No. 1659 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-21
Subject: Plan for Privatisation of Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Abdul Khaleque

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1659

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.09.2020

## PLAN FOR PRIVATISATION OF RAILWAYS

## 1659.SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)
- the details of the plan chalked out for privatisation of Railways;
- (b) the routes that have been planned by the Government to be handed over to private operators;
- (c) whether the privatisation is likely to be restricted to only passenger trains or will it also include goods trains and if so, the details in this regard;
- (d) whether there are plans to privatise any rail routes in North East India and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  introduce  new  trains  from Assam to Delhi or any other important locations in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  add  more  stoppages  for important  trains  to  Delhi  and  other  locations  in  Assam  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a)  to  (d):  No,  Sir.  There  is  no  proposal  to privatise the  Indian  Railways (IR).  However,  it  is  estimated  that  Indian  Railways  would  need  capital investment of ₹ 50 lakh crores up to the year 2030  for  network expansion and capacity augmentation, rolling stock induction and other modernization works to enable better delivery of passenger and freight services  and  to  improve its  modal  share in transport. To bridge Cont'd...2

the gap in Capital  Funding and bring in  modern  technology  and efficiencies, it is planned to use Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in  few initiatives including induction of modern rakes to run passenger trains  on  select  routes  with  an  objective  to  provide  improved  service delivery to passengers. However, the work of train operations and safety certification will continue to be with Indian Railways in all such cases.

Ministry  of  Railways  (MoR)  has  invited  applications  for  investment  and induction  of  modern  rakes  over  select  routes  through  Public  Private Partnership (PPP) to provide world class services to the passengers. As part  of  this  initiative,  MoR  have  issued  12  Requests  for  Qualification (RFQs) on 1st July, 2020  for operation of passenger  trains over approximately  109  origin-destination  pairs  (divided  into  12  clusters) through  PPP  on  Design,  Build,  Finance  and  Operate  (DBFO)  basis.  The routes are spread across the entire Indian Railway network and the list is available in the public domain namely, http://www.indianrailways.gov. in/IndicativeRoutesfor12clusters.pdf

(e)  &  (f):  Indian  Railway  does  not  run  trains  on  State-wise  basis  as Railway Network straddles across state boundaries. Besides, at present, all regular passenger train services are under cancellation, in view of the spread  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic.  As  such,  there  is  no  immediate proposal for introduction of trains or for provision of additional stoppages of the trains, including the trains serving the state of Assam. However, introduction of trains and provision of stoppages is an ongoing process  on  Indian  Railway  subject  to  operational  feasibility,  traffic demand, availability of resources, etc.

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