CII for Public Private Partnership in rly projects

New Delhi, Feb 5: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has stressed on Public Private Partnership for expansion of investments in Infrastructure of the Indian railways in its pre-budget recommendation for Railway Budget 2010-11.

PPP engagements need to be clearly segregated from outsourcing tasks of the Railways, a CII press release issued on Friday, Feb 5 said, adding that PPP must essentially involve sharing of risks and rewards on investments between both partners in the process.

PPP can be facilitated by broadening the Wagon Leasing Policy; focusing on development of a larger network of small and medium terminals; along with other specific recommendations for the container rail sector.

In the recommendation report submitted to the Railway Minister, CII has also made suggestions in the areas of technology upgradation on IR Systems; rationalization of the interface between Railways and suppliers to the sector; and customer related issues.

Speaking on the importance of technology upgradation, CII said that technology will not only help in enhancing the efficiency of the railways but also led to incremental additions to capacity without needing to add heavy duty capital expenditure related projects.

There is the need for rationalisation of the interface between Railways and its suppliers, the CII said in its third recommendation.

Suggestions to the Railways to be liberal in permitting use of its goods sheds for container handling have also been highlighted. To be able to break the practice of “lowest price tenders/quotes", benefits to industry should be provided if improved order management, excise exemption, incorporation of price variation clause and e-tendering are practiced as a norm, it added.

CII, finally, emphasised on the need for improvements in the user and customer interface.

OneIndia News