Indian Railways- Path Breaking PPP initiatives

According to 11th five year plan Indian Railway requires Rs. 346,000 crore. Of this Rs. 150000- Rs. 200000 Crore is expected to come from PPP. But presently of the 90 PPP projects taking place in the transport and urban sectors railway accounts for only 1%. Indian Railway was considered white elephant in one of the committee established to find solution for heavy losses for the Indian Railway. This year railway has become profitable with increasing traffic and increase in passenger. Indian railway is the highest employer in the world. The productivity of its employee is increasing these days. The factors responsible for the loss of this organization are becoming the key factor for its success. Now this is the time for Railway to go for PPP and improve its performance. Now railway is heaving stiff competition from the Low Cost Airlines. Many countries such as
Latin America and Australia have moved most railway activity to private provision.
India is following China’s development model in many of the areas to boost the growth. The best example is free trade zones (SEZ). China also allows Private participation in railway. Indian Railway need to constantly innovate and reinvent itself.