INDIAN RAILWAYS - On the Track of Transformation

The Indian Railways moves a staggering 8.1 billion passengers and 1.2 billion ton of freight across the country on an annual basis. Conscious of its importance in laying the foundations of 'New India', the government has launched and accelerated rail infrastructure initiatives to revamp the sector. To fuel this juggernaut on wheels, the capital outlay of Rs 6.45 lakh crore in 2014-20 has surpassed the cumulative outlay in the previous five decades. Further, the Indian Railways' National Rail Plan - 2030 is a planned and integrated roadmap to build a future ready rail system, focusing on capacity augmentation, creation of world class passenger facilities/infrastructure, increasing safety and efficiency, and reducing its carbon footprint.

In terms of expansion, addition of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling, trebling of tracks is being carried out. A potential game-changer for the logistics sector, the Dedicated Freight Corridors are expected to reduce transport cost and almost double (over time) the railways' modal share in freight traffic, through their modern design and enhanced operational capabilities. The first two - the eastern and western freight corridors are expected to be commissioned by 2022 and could potentially enhance the profitability of the railways' freight business through better services to customers.

To boost the speed and comfort of passenger travel and ease burden on the existing network, programs for high-speed rail and privately operated passenger trains are also under way. High-speed rail through higher speeds (~2.5x) is expected to reduce travel time by ~60 per cent and the first one between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is currently under implementation. In another initiative, the Railways is attracting the private sector to operate 224 passenger trains, 109 origin destination pairs of routes through the introduction of 151 modern trains. The modern trains are expected to ease passenger travel while also adding capacity to meet the growing demand.    

To enrich passenger experience at railway stations while increasing the railways' non-fare box revenue, 600 marquee stations have been identified for redevelopment into hubs for transit-oriented development, through the Public-Private-Partnership route. As a part of this augmentation program, work on the redevelopment of 125 stations is in progress. Out of this, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation is working on 63 stations, and Rail Land Development Authority is working on 60 stations, with two stations being taken up by zonal railways. The total investment for the redevelopment of 123 stations along with real estate development is pegged at over Rs 50,000 crore. Gandhinagar Railway Station was the first one to be developed and inaugurated (in July this year), and while some other prime stations such as New Delhi Railway Station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus are at the bidding stage, a few others such as Habibganj, Chandigarh, and Nagpur are under implementation.

In terms of train service, the 'Made in India' Vande Bharat Express trains and India's first privately operated Tejas Trains offer reduced travel time and top-notch passenger amenities. While two Vande Bharat semi-high speed express trains currently operate between Varanasi and New Delhi and Katra and New Delhi respectively, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation operates four modern Tejas Trains across the country. 

Safety has been a key priority area in recent times, and the elimination of all unmanned level crossings in 2019, resulted in zero passenger fatality - the Indian Railways' best safety performance. In relation to this, it is also amid overhauling its age-old signalling system in favor of internationally accepted automatic train protection technologies. Further, in times of the Covid-19 crisis, Indian Railways truly acted as a lifeline to the nation by running special trains to ferry migrant workers, essentials, and converting some of its infrastructure into medical centres.

Indian Railways is also on a mission mode of becoming the world's largest fully electrified railway network by 2023, and a "Green Railway" (net zero carbon emitter) by 2030. To achieve this, it plans to set up 20 GW of solar power capacity on its vacant land and railway station/real estate rooftops by 2030, for which several projects have already been commissioned.

National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)

Railways has been recognised as one of the top 5 sectors (by estimated value) under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), and along with Roads, Power, Oil & Gas pipelines, and Telecom, accounts for roughly ~83 per cent of the aggregate pipeline value. The union minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, launched the NMP on the 23rd of August 2021, which has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with infrastructure line ministries, based on the mandate for 'Asset Monetisation' under Union Budget 2021-22. NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of Rs 6.0 lakh crores through core assets of the central government, over a four-year period, from FY 2022 to FY 2025.

The Indian Railways accounts for Rs 1,52,496 crore, which is a staggering 26 per cent of the indicative Monetisation Value of the NMP, and key assets categories relevant to the monetization process have been identified. These include Railway Station Redevelopment, Passenger Train Operations, Track, Signaling, and Overhead Equipment (Track OHE) InvIT, Private Freight Terminals (PFTs), monetisation of track and allied infrastructure of Dedicated Freight Corridor of DFCCIL and other assets such as Konkan Railway, Hill Railways, railway stadiums and colonies.

 The Indian railways is working proactively to attract private investment to aid in the development of the Indian railway network. Various projects such under station redevelopment, passenger train operations, private freight terminals etc. are already in the RFQ/RFP stage with projects such as redevelopment of CSMT Mumbai and redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station attracting major interest from private investors.

With several initiatives aimed at transforming the entire ecosystem and setting a strong direction for the transportation sector, Indian Railways is poised to become the engine of' New India's' growth story.

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