Rail PSU listing 'shocks' Railway Board

The Railway Board appears not to have been consulted by the finance ministry on the Budget proposal to disinvest selected rail public sector undertakings (PSUs).
 
Describing the decision as a “shocker,” Rail Bhavan sources say the announcement to list subsidiaries like Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Ircon International was made without taking the apex management body of the Indian Railways into confidence.
 
The Railway Board’s surprise is principally the listing proposal for Ircon and RITES, both rail engineering consultancies, was raised only four days ago at a meeting at the Niti Aayog. Railway Board officials had pointed out that a Cabinet note had been circulated on the creation of a mega-holding company, so a final decision on the issue of listing only after a Cabinet decision.

 

Thirteen railway PSUs were supposed to be a part of the holding company: Container Corporation of India, Ircon, IRCTC, Konkan Railway Corporation, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, Rail Vikas Nigam, Railtel Corporation of India, RITES, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, Burn Standard Company, Braithwaite & Company, Bharat Wagon & Engineering Company and Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation.
 
“Now the creation of the mega-holding company looks unlikely,” says a senior official.