The Hindu : Front Page : Steps to improve infrastructure

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Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008
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Steps to improve infrastructure

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Ensuring that the Railways continue to play a crucial role in India’s impressive growth story year-after-year, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Tuesday announced a slew of measures to improve infrastructure and initiatives to boost freight business.

Be it the ambitious port-rail connectivity projects, construction of new iron-ore routes and dedicated freight corridors, procurement of additional rolling stocks, introduction of high-capacity wagons, or announcement of industry-specific steps, Mr. Prasad’s initiatives will continue to aid the growth of the economy and industry.

In his budget speech, Mr. Prasad laid special emphasis on the port-rail connectivity projects, particularly considering the fact that foreign trade was likely to go up many times in the coming years. The Railways currently handle about 25 per cent of the total traffic from various ports.

Mr. Prasad announced that the gauge conversion work of Gandhidham-Palanpur has been completed through the formation of a ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ (SPV) under public-private partnership to meet the demands of the Mundra and the Kandla ports, while the connectivity project for Pipavav port has also been completed.

An SPV has also been formed for Haridaspur-Paradeep new line, Krisnapatnam port connectivity new line and gauge conversion of Bharuch-Dahej, while an SPV will also be formed for Surat-Hazira and Pen-Revas port new lines on a priority basis, he announced.

Mr. Prasad said a new line between Attipattu and Puttur to serve the growing demand of Ennore port has been proposed, while doubling of the Rajgoda-Haldia line will be undertaken in partnership with the Haldia port.

To prevent time and cost over-runs and facilitate real price discovery, it has been decided that on a pilot basis, implementation of some projects will be explored on BOT basis through open tenders.

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