On Wednesday, the Ministry of Railways has invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private participation for operation of passenger train services over 109 Origin Destination (OD) pairs of routes through the introduction of 151 modern Trains (Rakes). The 109 OD Pairs have been formed into 12 Clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each Train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches, the Ministry said.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal also put out a tweet that read, “Railways invites Request for Qualifications for private participation for passenger train operations on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains.This initiative will boost job creation, reduce transit time, provide enhanced safety & world-class facilities to passengers.”
Notably, this circular raised many eyebrows and people began questioning the Centre for privatising the Indian Railways. TMC MP Mahua Moitra was one of the first to take to Twitter to question the Centre. She was followed by Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan as well.
Here’s what we know so far
- Railways said the project would entail a private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore. This is the first initiative of private investment for running passenger trains over Indian Railways network.
- According to Rahul Roushan, some private players allowed to use govt infra on revenue share basis; not very few routes. Railways earns without directly spending on ops. It can focus on safety and improving trains for aam aadmi rather than running luxury trains.
- With this budget, the rakes will need to be manufactured in India, and the private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation and maintenance of the trains, Hindustan Times reported.
- Interestingly, the Indian Railways was allocated Rs 70,000 crore during the Union Budget 2020-21. With the Centre’s decision on Wednesday, this Rs 30,000 crore will be a little less than half the amount
- The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.
- The Ministry said that the Concession Period for the project shall be 35 years adding that the private entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in Gross Revenue determined through a transparent bidding process.
- The private entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in gross revenue determined through a transparent bidding process
