Rlys to monetise DFC, focus on Rail plan 2030

THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTER HAS BEEN ALLOCATED ₹1.10 L CRORE OF OF WHICH ₹1.07 LAKH CRORE ACCOUNTS FOR THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

NEW DELHI: The national carrier will monetise upcoming Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) assets for operations and maintenance after commissioning, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the FY 2022 union budget speech on Monday. Sitharaman also said the Railways will have a National Rail Plan to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030.

The national transporter has been allocated ₹1.10 lakh crore of which ₹1.07 lakh crore accounts for the capital expenditure.

“Railways will monetise Dedicated Freight Corridor assets for operations and maintenance, after commissioning. Monetizing operating public infrastructure assets is a very important financing option for new infrastructure construction. A “National Monetization Pipeline” of potential brownfield infrastructure assets will be launched. An Asset Monetization dashboard will also be created for tracking the progress and to provide visibility to investors,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech.

“Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. Bringing down the logistic costs for our industry is at the core of our strategy to enable ‘Make in India’. It is expected that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC will be commissioned by June 2022,” she said.

In addition to this the government will explore new corridors; the Sonnagar – Gomoh Section (263.7 km) of Eastern DFC n PPP mode in 2021-22. Gomoh-Dankuni section of 274.3 km will also be taken up in short succession, she announced.

The Railways’ operating ratio—expenses as a portion of revenue or the amount spent on every rupee earned—is pegged at 96.15 % for FY 20-21.