The Union Ministry of Railways has included the 270-km ‘Dongargarh-Kharigarh-Kawardha-Bilaspur’ railway track project in Chhattisgarh falling under South East Central Railway (SECR) with an outlay of Rs2,500 crore among 13 key projects in the country which are proposed to be taken up on Joint Venture model, officials informed.
The role of Joint Venture Company, inter alia, is to choose projects, identify and collaborate with its stakeholders, mobilise resources, form project specific Special Purpose Vehicle (if required).
The Joint Venture can mobilise resources in the form of debt from banks/multi-lateral agencies/ Financial Institutions as debt funding by leveraging the equity or in the form of financial support from various stakeholders of the projects through the formation of project specific Special Purpose Vehicle, they stated.
The project specific Special Purpose Vehicle will have equity participation of Union Ministry of Railways and the State Government through the Joint Venture.
The Special Purpose Vehicle shall
be at the liberty to arrange investment from other Stakeholders, Public
Sector Undertakings, raise debt from Banks or Financial Institutions for undertaking a project.
As per the Shareholding Pattern approved by the Union Cabinet, Ministry of Railways can have the equity participation upto 50% in the Joint Venture and State Government to have the balance equity participation.
Formation of JV Company will help in mobilization of additional resources for execution of railway projects resulting in expansion of Railway Network in the country. A railway line in any area is an engine of growth for the entire economy. It will enhance economic/commercial activities and help generate large quantum of direct and indirect employment.
Notably, as many as five ongoing projects under South East Central Railway (SECR) had been put in the priority list by Union Railway Ministry for fast tracking implementation of the projects.
Prioritization of projects is a continuous exercise carried out on the basis of traffic and safety considerations and availability of funds, officials stated.
In addition to ongoing projects, 77 doubling / tripling / quadrupling projects having an aggregate length of 9,040 Km and total estimated cost of Rs90,304 crore were included in the Railway Budget for 2015-16 to decongest existing saturated section and create additional carrying capacity.
Zone wise break up of fast track implementation of projects is as under:- Central Railway 6, East Coast Railway 8, East Central Railway 11, Eastern Railway 1, North Central Railway 4, North East Railway 4, Northeast Frontier Railway 2, Northern Railway 4, North Western Railway 2, South Central Railway 8, South East Central Railway 5, South Eastern Railway 5, Southern Railway 4, South Western Railway 3, West Central Railway 6 and Western Railway 4.
Steps taken to reduce gap between project conceptualization and commissioning include review of procedures for Detailed Project Report (DPR) / detailed estimate examination / sanction, delegation of powers, adequate funding for prioritized projects and regular monitoring of progress.
Notably, the Union Railway Ministry would take up development of Multi Functional Complexes (MFCs) at six Railway Stations in Chhattisgarh.
They are Raipur, Bilaspur, Bhilai, Durg, Korba and Raigarh, officials stated.
As a part of Railway’s commitment to upgrade/augment passenger amenities at Railway Stations on continuous basis, development of Multi Functional Complexes (MFCs) at Railway Stations was first announced in Railway Budget 2009-10 to provide rail user facilities like Shopping, Food Stalls & Restaurants, Book Stalls, PCOs/STD/ ISD/FAX Booths, Medicine & Variety Stores, Budget Hotels (subject to viability), parking, etc.