The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged greater private sector participation in railways. In its pre-budget memorandum to the railway ministry, CII has called for clear guidelines to attract private investments.
The CII pre-budget memorandum suggested that imported raw materials for locomotives, carriages, wagons, track etc should be allowed zero or minimal customs duty.
According to CII, changes are required in existing policies like wagon leasing, private freight Terminals, special freight train operations, auto-hub, and container train operations, which are pending and need to be addressed.
The CII has asked for redressal of issues around land acquisition and land licensing, which it had identified as areas of key concern in many PPP and rail connectivity projects.
The industry body Has said that station modernization projects and high speed corridors can also be implemented on a PPP basis.
However, given the large investments needed and long gestation periods, it has demanded Viability Gap Funding for such investments.
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