The Railways have identified seven routes - all commercially viable - on which the mini high speed trains with a speed of 160 km per hour to 200 km per hour would be operated under the PPP mode. The other stakeholders could be the State governments and private investors, explained corporation chairman Satish Agnihotri. Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said the Corporation, as the implementing agency, would contribute in the joint venture to be formed under the Public Private Partnership mode. Kharge, however, underlined the need for high speed rail while focusing on providing a mass mode of safe, reliable and affordable transport. He launched the corporation at an “International Conference on High Speed Rail Travel - Low Cost Solutions.” The question is whether it suits us or not, not whether it is cheap or free.” He stressed how technology could be made available for even free. “You should not buy horses merely because horse shoes are freely available,” was Mr. Kharge, however, issued a word of caution against adopting new technology. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge launched the HSRC as a fully-owned subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, which his predecessor Nitish Kumar had set up with the objective of raising extra budgetary resources - from the market and private investors. The Railways on Tuesday set the ball rolling for privatising its passenger segment on its existing infrastructure with the launch of the High Speed Rail Corporation of India Ltd (HSRCIL). Kharge launches High Speed Rail Corporation stressing need for safe, reliable and affordable transport Author rail Posted on Categories Metro Rail Systems, Ministry of Urban Development (including NBCC) Coming, privatisation of Railway passenger segment Third, it pitches for exemption from forest clearances for such projects by treating these as public utility infrastructure works. It argues that Metro in other countries provide better link to such sites of historical importance. The ministry also sought exemption of Metro works from seeking clearance under the Ancient Monument and Archeological Sites & Remains Act to carry out construction close to monuments. Second, all departments concerned must issue permission for speedier construction so that there is no time and cost overrun.
Moreover, the price of the land should be at government rate. The ministry wants that while providing land for Metro works no government agency should seek alternate land. The note backs auditing by Comptroller & Auditor General of India ( CAG) of expenditure of private parties in project development if the cost increases beyond 10%. Even the new concessionaire is facing upheaval task due to present financial condition.
The “euphoria” was “short-lived” due to the 2008 economic slowdown. The note says though this was hailed as a successful model. It proposes that such public transport projects should not be converted into “real estate projects open to various market risks”.įor the Hyderabad Metro project, the successful bidder in 2007-08 banked heavily on revenue from real estate development and had even quoted negative grant. “With the slump in the real estate business, the entire revenue collection of this line got jeopardized eventually seeking exit of the concessionaire,” the note says. In a Cabinet note, UD ministry has cited how the concessionaire of airport express line projected income from property development to the extent of 70% of gross revenue for 20-25 years, and later it would taper to 37%. In case of these projects and also Hyderabad Metro, where private players were banking heavily on revenue from realty sector, the ministry has come to the view the revenue expectation from such activities should be limited to 20%. NEW DELHI: The Urban Development (UD) ministry has red flagged overdependence on real estate revenues to make Metro rail projects viable on public private partnership (PPP) mode after the failure of Delhi Airport Metro Express Line where the private player exited in less than three years of its operation.