DoNER minister seeks private sector inputs in railways' growth

Union Minister for Development of North East Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh on Thursday called for private participation in expansion of railways across the country.

The government could get more useful inputs by engaging private business institutions in railways, said the minister for Development of North East Region (DoNER) at the PHD Global Rail Convention, 2016.

"The participation of private players would be beneficial for the overall objective of having an efficient rail networking system," Jitendra Singh said.

"Private participation can be in the form of PPP model in laying down tracks or running the trains. The more we engage private players, more useful inputs we are likely to get," he said.

Taking a dig at the previous Congress government, Jitendra Singh said it did not do enough to develop the rail network in northeastern India.

"There may have been variety of reasons for not having developed an efficient rail network in the northeast, such as topography or militancy. However, I believe the main reason was misplacement of priorities by the previous government."

"The northeast region deserves to have a rail network, but still we were not able to do it," he said.

Highlighting the achievements of the government for the promotion of railways in the northeast, Jitendra Singh said that within six months of coming to power, the NDA regime connected two states -- Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya -- with the rail network of the country.

The government also increased the budget allocation for the development of railways in the northeast, he added.

"The total budget allocation during the last five years of the previous government was Rs.2,126 crore. However, in just two years, our government has already allocated Rs.5,163 crore for the same," he said.