Make in India boost! Indian Railways eyes over $4 bn investments with world-class private passenger trains

In one of the biggest railway development move, the Modi government has announced two major initiatives of seeking private investment, one is the running of passenger trains by private operators on the Indian Railways network and the other is the redevelopment of railway stations across the country. According to Indian Railways, these projects have the potential of bringing an investment of over $7.5 billion in the next five years. The national transporter has stated that it is eyeing over $4 billion investments with private passenger train services. Recently, Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry has invited both domestic as well as global investors to actively participate in the bidding process for these initiatives. The private investor will be responsible for finance, design, procurement, maintenance, operation of trains along with the setup or upgradation of the depot for train maintenance. Also, the investor will be responsible for the punctuality, reliability and upkeep of trains.