NOL wins approval 'in principle' for India railroad JV

Mumbai, Mar 06 (UNI) Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a global transportation and logistics company, today announced that its new joint venture company has received an 'in principle' approval from the Government of India to provide freight rail services in the country.

The approval was granted to India Infrastructure and Logistics Pvt Ltd (IIL), a joint venture with Hindustan Infrastructure Projects&Engineering Pvt Ltd (HIPE), which is controlled by Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said a NOL press release here.

Ministry of Railways has issued the approval for a 'Category 1' licence conferring rights to run unlimited trains on all India routes, for an initial period of 20 years which is extendable by another 10 years.

Initially, the joint venture will concentrate on the Mumbai-Delhi route, where is anticipates offering a market-leading service, the release said.

''This marks HIPE's first investment in the transportation sector, which is an important focus area for us and so is our partnership with NOL,'' said Mr Chandrasekhar.

In February, Parliament had approved a proposal to privatise the country's rail freight services, which have hitherto been controlled by a government-owned monopoly, Container Corporation of India Ltd CONCOR).

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