As the Railways gears up to drive India’s infrastructure growth, the Ministry of Railways is looking away from traditional methods of financing track laying and maintenance machinery on its own and is increasingly looking at contractualising the process through private players.
“The role of India’s construction equipment industry in supplying critical equipment to facilitate the growth is crucial to the endeavour,” said Anilkumar Lahoti, Chairman of the Railway Board. Mr. Lahoti was addressing the 4th annual financial conclave of the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association in New Delhi on Thursday.
Charting out the modernisation plans, Mr. Lahoti said as the Railways geared up for expansion, the Ministry was planning to have long term contracts for getting track works done. “The machines are quite expensive, ranging anywhere from ₹10 crore to ₹100 crore. This will also need finance. So, we are planning to pay in terms of output or availability of machines to contractors,” he said.
