RAILWAYS NEED NEW AND INNOVATIVE
WAYS OF FINANCING – NITISH KUMAR
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON RAIL FINANCING CONCLUDES
To ensure systematic growth of Indian Railways
traditional methods of financing support are to be supplemented
by new and innovative schemes, said Railway Minister Shri Nitish
Kumar here yesterday. Inaugurating the two-day International Conference
on Rail Financing the Minister opined that apart from being one
of the largest networks of its kind in the world Indian Railways
is very crucial to the economy as it gives the right fillip to
al-round development. Focusing on the importance of such conferences
the Minister said that they help in blending knowledge with experience
in providing solutions to complex financing issues of railways.
Speaking on the future plans Shri Nitish Kumar
said that Indian Railways are poised for growth, expansion and
augmentation. He further added that during the 10th
Five Year Plan which is currently under finalisation railways
have indicated a growth of nearly 6000 kms. The emphasis is not
only on consolidation of existing routes but also on augmentation
as well as on emerging areas like port connectivities and development
of backward regions. The Railway Minister said that the network
is already spending Rs.17000 crore over a period of five years
to clear maintenance backlog and for improvement of Railway safety.
Further, National Rail Vikas Yojna, announced by the Prime Minister
on the Independence Day this year, seeks to provide for further
investments upto Rs.15000 crore to remove capacity bottlenecks
in the critical sections of Railway network. With such massive
funding requirements and ambitious Plan targets, the financing
of railway projects has become a critical issue, he added.
During the two-day Conference which concluded
here today apart from experts on rail finance from India representatives
of different rail and financial organizations from UK, Canada,
and Australia presented their views on the necessity to raise
finance, to tackle the huge investment requirement of railways.
