Rlys Asked To Attract More Investors
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the government to review the norms governing the build-own-lease-transfer (BOLT) scheme for private sector participation in railway projects.
At a meeting with railway minister Mamata Banerjee, the industry association has pointed out that the current policy framework for private sector participation in building, construction or manufacturing of a railway asset through lease agreement with the railways is not attractive enough.
According to CII, the financing is not very easy, the investor has to undergo a number of clearances and the terms and conditions are not favourable to investors.
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"There is a need to re-examine the scheme, particularly in the light of attractive policies adopted by the ministry of surface transport for road development, which is gaining popularity among private investors," the chamber said in its presentation.
Projects under the BOLT scheme include bids for gauge conversion, doubling of single-track sections, construction of road over-bridges and projects of rail electrification and telecommunications.
CII also urged the minister to consider the private sector as partner for privately-owned tourist trains and tourist-popular circles.
The selected routes could be used by the private sector concurrently with the railways under a `leasing of rail roads' contract which could be a renewable contract with a tern of 5-10 years.
Revenue thus generated could be used for development work.
CII has also suggested that the government should involve the private sector in manning of railway level crossings. A study could be conducted on earmarking level crossings in a phased manner, safety being the uppermost priority.
Another area of the railways seen by CII has having huge potential for private sector participation is telecommunication projects.
The railways has uninterrupted and nation-wide right of way passing through major cities and spaning a length of over 62,000 kilometres.
The railways have therefore developed plans to attract private investment in telecommunications by permitting right of way to private investors for laying optical fibre cables along the track in railway land.
In return, the investor is expected to provide modern telecommunication system to the railways at subsidised rates and utilise the remaining capacity for commercial purposes.