Seeking the cooperation of States for acquisition of land for speedy implementation of the projects there, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday asserted in the Lok Sabha that the Indian Railways would never be privatised but maintained that private investment should be encouraged for more efficient functioning of the behemoth.
“Indian Railways will never be privatised. It is a property of every Indian and will remain so,” the Minister said, adding that it will remain with the Government of India.
Replying to a discussion on Demands for Grants for Railways in the Lok Sabha, Goyal said central allocation for railway projects has been enhanced several times more than the previous years and includes all States without any discrimination.
Goyal said the Modi Government has hiked investment in railways to `2.15 lakh crore in 2021-22 fiscal, from `1.5 lakh crore in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
The railway minister said some states have not been cooperating to allot land for railway projects –doubling and gauge conversion- and cited the case of West Bengal where, he said projects have been stalled for want of cooperation and allocation of land. He said in one of the projects, approved in 1974-75, only 42 km length of total 110 km is completed.
The Minster said all of the broad gauge lines have been made crossing-free and the country has become self-reliant in the signaling system without being dependent on the foreign technology. “We are developing our own home growth signaling system and not European”, he said and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for suggesting self-reliance in the technology.
Goyal said there has been no death of any passenger in rail accidents in past two years and the railways has been putting enormous focus on passenger safety and punctuality of train timings .
The Lok Sabha later passed the Demands for Grants for Railways for 2021-22.
He said they were working to making Indian Railways the “engine of growth”. The minister also sought cooperation of State Governments for land acquisition for faster implementation of rail projects.
Besides Bengal, he also pointed to another opposition-ruled state of Maharashtra for delaying railway projects.