Gowda assures new railway zone to AP Hyderabad, Sept 19 (INN): Union Railways Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Friday made it clear that Foreign Direct Investment or FDI would not be allowed in the existing projects of the Indian Railways.
Speaking to media persons here, Gowda said that the FDI would be allowed only for bullet trains and dedicated freight corridors. He also informed that the Indian Railways would come out with a model concession agreement (MCA) for executing its projects under public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
However, he said development without private investment would not be possible and therefore, it would be allowed to some extent. He said that draft MCA would be ready in a month.
He said the previous UPA regime has sanctioned projects worth nearly Rs 5 lakh crore although it had a budget of just Rs 60,000 crore. Therefore, instead of new projects, the NDA Government would prioritise completion of pending projects at the earliest.
Responding to a query, the Union Minister admitted the drop by two per cent in passenger traffic due to different reasons which including withdrawal of 'Izzat Pass'. However, he said that drop would not affect the revenues.
With regard to the setting up of a new railway zone in Andhra Pradesh as proposed in the AP Reorganisation Act - 2014, Gowda said that a committee was already constituted to study the proposal and a decision would be taken after the committee submits its report by October 14.
News Posted: 19 September, 2014
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