No Plan To Privatize Indian Railways: Govt

There is no plan from the government to privatize Indian Railways, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

However, in order to facilitate efficient operation of Indian Railways, he urged all states to work in cooperation with the Centre.

He said that it is a complex organisation with a social obligation and the biggest challenge was capital investment in this sector - which was sped up after 2017 when the Rail Budget was merged with the Union Budget.

Till 2014, the capital investment was only Rs 45,000 crore which was made double in 2017 and as of now, the a total of Rs 2,45,800 crore have been infused, he said.

Vaishnaw’s statement came after the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Centre must not consider the privatisation of Railways.

It may be noted that the Railway Minister had clarified the same in Lok Sabha last week.

"Railway stations, railway tracks, signalling system, train coaches, everything belongs to the Government of India. There is no plan to privatize railways. Even Piyush Goyal has already made it clear that the railways will not be privatized," Vaishnaw had said in the Lower House of the Parliament.

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