CII expert comment on Rail Budget

Mumbai : Welcoming the maiden rail budget of the new Government Mr. Ajay S Shriram, President CII said that “The Rail Budget has presented a broad vision on what needs to be done in this critical sector in order to upgrade infrastructure and improve operational efficiency. CII welcomes the ambition to be the largest freight carrier in the world, as presented in the Railway Budget. The Minister has been realistic and candid in acknowledging the problems faced in implementation of projects and improving revenue realization”.

Mr. Sumit Mazumder, President Designate CII and Chairman, CII Special Task Force on Railways stated that “The Minister has presented a practical and execution-oriented Budget, laying emphasis on implementation of on-going projects and focusing on monitoring them for an early closure. If projects are made attractive to private investors, funds through PPP and FDI will be available. Multilateral funding should also be accessed for high speed corridors. CII appreciates the increased attention to improvement in passenger amenities and safety”.

Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII stated that the accent on resource mobilization through the public private partnership (PPP) and FDI and through surplus generated through PSUs is indeed commendable. Similarly, the restructuring of rail board is a bold initiative which would help improve efficiency in the system and pave the way for flexible decision-making and restructuring of railways on commercial lines, stated CII.

Further, plans to facilitating connectivity to new and upcoming ports through PPP, speedy work on coal connectivity lines, setting up of logistic parks, among others which would push rail services closer to global benchmarks. Expressing concern over the high operating ratio which is expected to be 92.5% in 2014-15, CII feels that this would constrain internal resource mobilization.

Source : dailyshippingtimes.com