Asset monetisation: Railways to monetise assets worth Rs 54,000 cr between 2021-25

• Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that there is no proposal to privatise the Railways
• To bridge the gap in the Capital funding, Public-Private partnership mode is envisaged to facilitate faster development of network, he added

New Delhi: Railways has identified assets, including trains, railway redevelopment projects, land parcels, and railway colonies, among others, worth Rs 54,000 crore for monetisation, said Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. In a written response submitted in the Rajya Sabha, Vaishnaw said, "Ministry of Railways has identified a list of assets for monetization anticipated to bring in an investment of about Rs 54,000 crore over the period 2021-25. The drive for monetization has been taken up accordingly." 

Railways asset monetisation: List of assets

The list of assets identified for monetisation includes induction of 150 modern trainsets through PPP (Public Private Partnership) in Private Passenger Train Operator Project (PTO), Station Re-Development Projects through PPP, non-core Railway land parcels, multi-functional complexes and Railway colonies.

No plan to privatise Railways: Vaishnaw

In a separate response submitted recently in the Upper House of the Parliament, Vaishnaw said that there is no proposal to privatise the Railways and added that the government is looking at public private partnership (PPP) to bridge the gap in capital funding. "There is no proposal to privatise the Indian Railways. It is estimated that Railway Infrastructure would need an investment of Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018-2030. To bridge the gap in the Capital funding, Public-Private partnership mode is envisaged to facilitate faster development of network, manufacturing of rolling stocks and delivery of passenger and freight services," said the minister.

The minister added that there is also a proposal to use Public Private Partnership mode for inducting modern rakes to run passenger trains on select routes with an objective to provide improved service delivery to passengers. "However, the responsibility of train operations and safety certification rests with Indian Railways in all such cases," said Vaishnaw.

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