oppn parties Railways Need a Shot in the Arm

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  • India will fast-track deployment of 52 defence surveillance satellites
  • In a first, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai helps patients draw up living will
  • Calcutta HC says that an arrest warrant cannot be issued against an accused who is on anticipatory bail, and if that person is arrested, he or she must be released as per the conditions of the anticipatory bail
  • Monsoon covers entire India 9 days ahead of schedule
  • Maharashtra government scraps order making Hindi the 3rd language in state schools after protests by civil society and opposition
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  • The finance ministry has asked PSB to look at ways to monetise their investment in subsidiaries, by listing them on the stock exchanges
  • After auditor flags overlimit expenses, Karnataka Bank MD & CEO S Hari Hara Sarma and ED Sekhar Rao resign
  • Rosneft likely to sell its stake in Nayara Energy to RIL
  • Ola junks commission-based income model, opts for a daily flat fee from drivers with the hope of attracting more drivers to its platform
  • Torrent Pharma will acquire a controlling stake in JB Chem for Rs 18000cr by buying 46.4% from US fund KKR and another 26% from the public by making an open offer
  • Speculation persists over Jasprit Bumrah making the playing 11 in the second Test against England starting July 2
  • FIH Pro hockey: Indian women slump to their 8th successive loss as they lose to China 2-3
  • US Open BWF Super 300 badminaton: Ayush Shetty wins his first BWF world title by beating Canadian Brian Young 21-18,21-13 but Tanvi Sharma lost in the finals to Beiwwwan Zhang 11-21, 21-16, 10-21
  • R Praggananda wins Tashkent meet, become number 1 chess player in India with FIDE rating of 2799
The SIT formed to probe law college gang-rape in Kolkata has collected the hockey stick used to hit the victim and other rape evidence from the coolege campus /////// Rath Yatra stampede in Puri kills 3
oppn parties
Railways Need a Shot in the Arm

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2015-09-22 12:40:30

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
As Suresh Prabhu readies the Railway Budget for 2015, he faces a host of difficulties. He is new to the job, having been appointed in November 2014. Plus, he faces an acute financial crunch â€" he needs nearly Rs 2 lakh crore just to fund the pending projects. Finally, the option of across the board fare increase needs to be curbed due to political considerations.

Against this background, it is certain that the minister will look to raise funds from budgetary support from the main budget and joint ventures with the private sector. While the former is not advisable as it puts unnecessary strain on the country’s resources, the latter will be a welcome move. The Railways present a gigantic â€" and profitable â€" business opportunity for the country’s private investors. If projects are envisaged with commercial viability and the private players can expect a reasonable return, there will not be a dearth of funds. But the problem is that the Railways often take up projects out of populist thinking. These projects drain the resources of the organization and will not attract private investment.

Another long term overhaul suggested by many experts, including the Economic Times, is to spin off the Railways into several independent corporations like the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. with a road map to privatize the same through sale of shares to the public. That would bring in much needed cash for the utility.

For the present, the minister should eschew populism and try and run a tight ship. There are several areas that can bring in cash. For instance, the Railways are sitting on acres of prime land. These should be put to optimum use through development through joint ventures. Even at stations, the retiring rooms are huge and ungainly. They should be redesigned to make them modern and an aggressive campaign should be made to ensure full use. There are several ways that the Railways can earn money apart from its core business. They should be explored in full. For this, out of the box thinking is required. The minister should involve domain experts from all over the world to turn around a utility that has maximum assets and is the biggest employer in India.