By Harish Kunwar The commodity sector in India is set to get a boost following Indian Railways decision to adopt public private partnership model for several of its non-core projects including Dedicated Freight Corridor linking ports and mines.
Manufacturing of new locomotives, high speed corridors, commercialization of 43,000 acres of vacant land and multi-modal logistic parks will give a boost to the sagging commodities sector in the country in the coming years.
Over the decade, private sector participation in the railway sector has increased, though it remains limited. The public-private partnership (PPP) model is becoming increasingly popular in order to mobilize capital and improve operation and management skills. In the past, IR made several attempts to involve the private sector through works or management contracts in areas such as catering wagon ownership and leasing, and joint ventures (JVs) for rail infrastructure projects.
As a result, several initiatives were taken up on a PPP basis. These included commercial utilization of railway land, private operation of container trains, catering services, warehouses and wagon procurement. A number of PPP projects are also on the anvil. These include construction of dedicated freight corridors, modernization of railway stations, manufacture of rolling stock, utilization of vacant railway land, development of railside warehouses, construction of passenger terminals and development of VSAT hubs.
It has been assessed that Indian Railways would need to spend around Rs. 2,51000 crore (US$62 billion) on various capacity enhancement measures over the next five year period. A major part of the investment would come from internally generated resources. Budgetary support to the extent feasible would also come forth. However, to meet the massive investment needed, these would need to be leveraged to mobilize adequate level extra budgetary resources. Around Rs. 1,00,000 crore is expected to come from extra budgetary resources including Public Private Partnership (PPP). PPP would, thus, play a crucial role in the attainment of the strategic goals outlined above.
Construction of DFC
It has been planned to construct a new Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), initially covering about 2700 route kms. equivalent to around 5000 track kilometers at an approximate cost of Rs. 28000 crore (US$6 billion) linking the ports of western India and the ports and mines of Eastern India to Delhi and Punjab. The construction of this corridor will be implemented through an SPV being created for the purpose through a mix of Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) and PPP methods. Ministry of Railways is in the process of selecting a global consultant to advise on the concession agreement, principles of track access charges and other financing and bidding issues.
It is envisaged that innovative ideas on design, construction and maintenance of railway to achieve optimal life – cycle costs would be forthcoming through PPP especially as the work progresses on the initial two corridors and further corridors are taken up. The concessionaire could also tap additional ancillary revenue streams through commercial exploitation of and, construction of freight terminal/logistic park/ICDs etc.
Railway stations at metropolitan cities and important tourist centres need to be modernized to provide world-class passenger amenities and services to the large multitude of passengers using these stations. Indian Railways is planning to do so by attracting private investments in the area by leveraging the land around and airspace above the stations.
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