The Prime Minister’s Office has formed a group comprising the chairman of the Railway Board, the finance secretary and the secretary to the Planning Commission, among others, to come up with ‘creative financing-cum-implementation mechanisms’ to clear the backlog.
Arunendra Kumar, chairman of the Railway Board, had earlier told Business Standard the railways had decided to prioritise whatever “needed to be completed within the available resources”.
The Elevated Rail Corridor in Mumbai, redevelopment of stations, power generation and energy savings projects, coal mines and port connectivity were identified as areas of priority for the 12th Plan.
There were also ambitious proposals such as a high-speed bullet train corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, set for a feasibility study in 2009 and still to see any development.
Station modernisation is yet to attract many of the investments mentioned in the Budget of 2013.
The ELC is still shuttling in files between various ministries.
Four extensions have already been taken for the Request For Proposal process.
The project is ‘still under discussion’ even after intervention from the PMO.
Indian Railways has limited resources to meet its backlog.
It has funding of Rs 26,000 crore (Rs 260 billion) from the central government, internal resources of about Rs 14,000 crore (Rs 140 billion) and this year it is expected to raise Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion)
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