Railways To Raise Over Rs 18,000 Crore From Asset Monetisation In The First Phase

The asset value of the proposed monetisation of railway stations, railway colonies, hill railways and railway stadiums is estimated be around Rs 17,810 crore.

In a recent review meeting on asset monetisation by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, it was pointed out by the Railways that PPP mode is the mechanism for asset monetisation for development of infrastructure in the rail sector as a whole.

As per the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), all major stations, colonies, stadiums and hill railways in Darjeeling, Shimla and Matheran among others are being considered for redevelopment in PPP mode in the current fiscal.

Goods sheds, private passenger trains and overhead equipment (OHE) on track are expected to be taken up in the next fiscal for asset monetisation.
The NIP envisages the estimated total value of asset monetisation is around Rs 57,222 crore in the rail sector.

According to the Railways, the proceeds of asset monetisation as and when received would be utilised for priority infrastructure projects.

The Railways is giving top priority for speedy implementation of large infrastructure projects such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor, DFC, Kashmir rail link and other national projects with Railway Minister Aswhini Vaishnaw reviewing the progress on a weekly basis.

The Railways has constituted a task force of Executive Directors for fast implementation of projects. Stakeholder consultation to develop a viable project model for Sonnagar-Gomoh section of Eastern DFC is being carried out by the Railways to promote PPP mode in infrastructure projects.

The capital expenditure was Rs 27,864 crore in October as against the target of Rs 107,758 crore. The capital expenditure on account of the gross budgetary support was Rs 53,889 crore as against the target of Rs 107,300 crore in October this fiscal.

The Railways maintains that the expenditure was less due to heavy monsoon.