No privatisation of Railways: Lalu Prasad

New Delhi, Oct 7: Signalling his desire to embrace the private sector for a slew of projects, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, however, made it amply clear that he would not allow privatisation of the transport behemoth that had come to be known as the lifeline of the country.

''Indiscriminate privatisation breeds discontent among employees because of their attendant retrenchment, and I am firmly opposed to it,'' Mr Prasad said, addressing the Infrastructure Conference, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mr Prasad, who delivered the keynote vaddress, also took the opportunity to voice his opposition to the idea of a Regulator for the Railways, saying it was not feasible at present.

''The Railways have to cater to enormous social obligations, and the idea of a Regulator as of now is untenable,'' he told the conference, attended by top mandarins of the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry, which are vehement supporters of a Regulator for the Railways.

Mr Prasad said private players were welcome to join some of the projects, but these had necessarily to come through the Private Public Partnership (PPP) route. ''I dont't like to leave anyone in doubt that ownership- will remain with the Railways.'' Freight operations, developing world class stations, Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), passenger amenities, commercial utilisation of surplus land, container trains and manufacturing of locomotives and coaches were some of the areas where the PPP model could be gainfully employed, the minister said.

Taking pride in scripting the turnaround story of Indian Railways, Mr Prasad mentioned the Rakesh Mohan Committee report, which had suggested a massive dose of privatisation and corporatisation of the Railways to save it from an impending bankruptcy.

''We have now a fund balance of Rs 13,000 crore and have set a target of Rs 20,000 crore by the end of the current financial year,'' he said.

Mr Prasad said one of the challenges for the ministry was to increase the speed of both passenger and freight trains.

''The Prime Minister has suggested that speed of passenger trains should be increased. But running a Bullet train in India will have to encounter a series of logistical and financial problems.'' Mr Prasad said he would soon be visiting China where trains were run on magnetic cushion. ''Speed of trains can be increased but the Centre should be ready to open its purse strings for it. A miserly attitude will not help,'' he added.

In this connection, he pointed out that the Shatabdi train, running between Delhi and Agra, had achieved speed of 140 km, the maximum for any train so far in the country.

While PPP was the predominant theme of the conference, Mr Prasad stood firm on the ground of populism with all seriousness. Showing his concern for the travelling passengers, he said the recently launched 'Garib Rath' had enabled people to travel upto 1450 km in air-conditioned comforts by shelling out only Rs 650. ''This is unprecedented in the world,'' he remarked.

He also talked about the declining revenues of railways systems in European countries, despite the fact these were heaavily subsidised.

''Indian Railways, on the other hand, have been making profits for the last three years despite no increase in passenger fares and freight charges.'' The minister said the Railways proposed to set up oulets for agro products at 7000 stations through PPP. These outlets would purchase perishable items like milk, fruits and vegetables at reasonable prices and would be carried to tye markets through airconditioned containers, he pointed out.

''This is the one area which has enormous revenue generating potential for the Railways,'' he said.

The minister said the Railways proposed to spend Rs 1000 billion on modernisation of railway signals, track and rolling stock, keeping in view the transport needs during the next five years.

This would not only reduce the unit cost but also provide services to customsers at reduced cost, he pointed out.

UNI