KEY STORY
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The government on Friday assured the Rajya Sabha that railways infrastructure will never be privatised, but it revealed plans to monetise railway assets to generate resources and boost growth.
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Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said passenger train operations taken up through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is aimed at bringing a total investment of about Rs 30,000 crore.
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Speaking during the Question Hour, Goyal said the Railway Ministry has plans to monetise its assets, including through Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors, after commissioning, induction of 150 modern rakes through PPP, station redevelopment through PPP, railway land parcels, multi-functional complexes (MFC), railway colonies, hill railways and stadiums.
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“Asset monetisation would help in generating more resources for infrastructure creation. Passenger train operations were taken up through PPP is targeted to bring a total investment of about Rs 30,000 crore,” Goyal said.
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In response to a supplementary question asked by opposition leader Jairam Ramesh, the minister said the Congress leader seems to not understand the difference between privatisation and monetisation.
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“When you privatise, you sell off the assets permanently, and it no more remains a part of the government ownership. In the railways, the plan is to monetise in terms of how it will generate resources, further investment and growth. The infrastructure of Indian Railways will never be privatised,” Goyal said.
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The minister said dedicated freight corridors are a separate corporate entity and the railways is supporting them. “The railways is supporting but is not the owner of tracks that the DFC is laying. If we raise funds by leasing them, giving them out to the private sector to use in the interim period we are doing a service to the nation,” he said.
Phone-tapping: BJP targets Rajasthan govt
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BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Bhupender Yadav hit out at the Congress government in Rajasthan on Friday over the phone-tapping case, accusing it of violating people’s constitutional rights to their privacy.
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Speaking to reporters, he said the state government has itself acknowledged that phones had been tapped and claimed that not only the common citizens but also Congress members were at the receiving end of the exercise.
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Yadav said the Constitution provide every citizen rights to his or her privacy, and the government’s job is to protect those rights. What the state government has done violated the Constitution and constitutional norms.
