Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given clear and strict instruction to the ministry of railways to ease PPP norms in order to attract massive private investments into the sector.
According to Zee Media sources, the Prime Minister has asked the Railway Minister to ease paperwork and install a single window clearance for big projects. An online tendering system to attract bids from potential investors is also on the pipeline.
All these are being done to streamline the process of implementation of projects on PPP (Public-Private Partnership) basis by ensuring adequate profits for the private players.
The Prime Minister's intervention comes at a time when a large number of railway projects are stalled due to pending approvals from various ministries and departments of state and central govt i.e. National Highways Authority of India, forest department, irrigation department, PWD (Public Works Department) and even the Archealogical Survey of India (if the projects are located in the vicinity of protected monuments).
To achieve speedy clearance for these stalled projects the ministry of railways is regularly conducting 'Coordinate meetings' with various ministries and departments.
While the railways need Rs.26,000 crores to bring back the sector on the track of development, a whopping Rs.500,000 crores is required to execute all of the approved projects.
