There is no plan to privatise Railways. However, private participation for building/ strengthening rail infrastructure is permissible. As per the sectoral guidelines for Domestic/ Foreign Direct Investment issued in November, 2014, private participation is permissible in suburban corridor projects through Public Private Participation, high speed train projects, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance facilities, railway electrification, signaling system, freight terminals/ logistics parks, passenger terminals, railway technical training institutes, testing facilities, concessioning of standalone passenger corridors, non- conventional sources of energy, mechanized laundry, bio toilets, technological solutions for level crossings and to improve safety.
Apart from private participation for building/ strengthening rail infrastructure, no plan has been chalked out for mobilisation of private funds for Railways. For development of Railway projects, Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Life Insurance Corporation of India for 1.5 lakh crore to be made available over a period of five years.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Source : PIB
