Lok Sabha Question No. 627 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-16
Subject: Protecting Interests of Railway Employees
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Sougata Ray

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 627 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.09.2020

## PROTECTING INTERESTS OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES

627. SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

PROF. SAUGATA RAY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  allowed  private  operators  to  operate trains on various railway routes in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  of  proposed  privatization  of  Railway  infrastructure along with routes finalised therein, zone-wise and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  salient  features  of  the  scheme  which  allows  private  operators  to operate  trains  on  railway  routes  along  with  the  details  of  private  players participated  in  the  proposal  so  far  and  the  expected  revenue  to  be generated therefrom;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  received    requests/representations  from various quarters including railway unions to withdraw such decision in the recent past;
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government thereon; and
- (f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to protect the interests of employees of railways/job security of the existing employees from such privatization of railway routes?

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## ANSWER (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a)  to  (c)  There  is  no  proposal  for  privatization  of  Indian  Railways.  It  is estimated  that  Indian  Railways  would  need  Capital  investment  of  around ₹ 50 lakh crore upto 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 the gap in capital funding and to induct modern  technologies  and  improve  efficiencies,  it  is  being  planned  to  use Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for few initiatives.

One  of  the  PPP  initiatives  is  to  invite  partners  to  invest  and  induct modern  rakes  over  select  routes  to  provide  world  class  services  to  the passengers. As part of this initiative,  Ministry  of  Railways  have  issued  12 Requests  for Qualification (RFQs)  on  1 st 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 identified for operation of services in PPP mode are spread across the entire Railway network. These routes are available in the public domain namely http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/IndicativeRoutesfor12clusters.pdf. Under this PPP model the private operator will collect fare and specified non-fare revenues from passengers in consideration of the services, as per Concession Agreement. The likely revenue to be generated can be estimated upon completion of the bidding process.

(d)  to (f) Both the recognized Federations, namely, All India Railway men's Federation  (AIRF)  and  National  Federation  of  Indian  Railway  men's  (NFIR) have  initially  represented  against  the  decision  to  permit  operation  of passenger  trains  by  private  train  operators.  Thereafter,  several  meetings have been held with the Federations to explain the rationale behind this PPP initiative.

There  is  no  proposal  for  privatization  of  railway  routes.  The  existing passenger train services shall not be affected by the operation of passenger train  services  in  PPP  mode.  These  services  to  be  operated  in  PPP  mode shall  be  additional  trains  and  aimed  at  increasing  the  availability  of  train services to the public. In order to protect the interest of the employees, it has been decided that the Crew (Drivers and Guards) required for operation of these trains shall be provided by Indian Railways.

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