Cricket legend and Member of Parliament Sachin Tendulkar has raked up an old debate of isolating the suburban rail system of Mumbai by writing to Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal asking to create a single Railway zone for Mumbai Suburban Rail comprising both Central and Western Railways.

“I am sure you will support this idea beyond the difficulties of implementation, it will provide much-needed focus, budgetary assistance and exclusive administration to the needs of the people of Mumbai,” the Master Blaster’s letter reads.

What the MP may or may not know is that this was attempted in July 1999 with the formation of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) — a joint venture of the Indian Railways and Maharashtra government. It was created to run the suburban line but now implement only those projects that involve expansion of the suburban rail network, says a MRVC official. Then again in December 2015, the Railways addressed a similar query, saying that amalgamating a single zone for Mumbai is not feasible.

Tendulkar had reasoned that a common body would “help optimise management of suburban railway stations and surrounding railway-owned land, and enable speedy decision-making, holistic planning and execution of projects. It will also free Mumbai suburban from overall supervision of Indian Railway, which remains largely preoccupied with maintenance of country’s national rail network.”

However, rail officials said there are many technical reasons why a unified suburban system is not practical. “Mumbai’s rail system is complex and comprises not just local trains but also long distance and goods trains,” explained a senior rail officer, adding “There are two different zones operating in the same city and amalgamating businesses and operations is very difficult.”

Still, senior rail officials say that a committee has been formed to look into Tendulkar’s suggestion.

There is a system of high-level reviews of important infrastructures projects in the North East to which the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) is also a part. The department conducts coordination meetings at various levels, says Naveen Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Government of India.

Q: What steps have been taken to ensure an inclusive development of the North East?

A: The Ministry of Development of North East Region is a coordinating ministry. We have taken several initiatives for an inclusive growth of the Northeastern states. One of the recent initiatives have been the setting up of inter-ministerial committee because we found that people are working in isolation whereas more synergies towards the same effort will deliver better results.

We have started an inter-ministerial committee on ayurvedic and medicinal plants which will be chaired by Secretary DoNER and Secretary of the AYUSH Department. We plan to take all the stakeholders together on one platform so that maximum benefit can be derived. We have groups on roads, tourism etc also.

So our core job is of coordination. We are also trying to bring the North East Council (NEC) and the DoNER Ministry together into an institutional sector arrangement. We are also proposing that for education, primary and secondary education will come to DoNER and all other issues pertaining to education will go to NEC.

Similarly, all tertiary healthcare issues will go to NEC and others will come to us. We have a North East Venture Capital Fund. We expect more people to apply for that.

Q: What initiatives are you taking to streamline the distribution of funds to the State Governments?

A: We have changed the entire guidelines now. According to the earlier guidelines, 40 per cent of the amount was given at the time of the sanction. Now at the time of sanction, only Rs 10 lakh is given, and a bigger amount is given later. Earlier, projects use to remain pending for 5-10 years. It is now reduced to six months. Now money is released once the work starts on the project.

We have also started the monitoring of projects. We also have digitised many operations. The speed of the case disposal has increased. We have created an e-office here. All the data is available online. It is very easy to track the documents. All the old files have been digitised. No documents are lost now. States have been very cooperative in all our initiatives. Priority is also given to online projects.

Also, we have issued fresh guidelines that after release of Rs 10 lakhs, if the work order doesn’t start, we will cancel the funding. Earlier, Detailed Project Report (DPR) use to come from the State Government. Now, we have digitised it. The slogan of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ is being implemented. The entire exercise has been handed over to the Chief Secretary. This has brought the system into a tight loop and ensured timebound disposal.

Q: What is your take on the infrastructure and communication network in the North East?  What initiatives DoNER is taking in this direction?

A: There is a system of high-level reviews of important infrastructures projects in the North East to which we are a part. We do the coordination meeting at various levels. We do keep a tab on all the happenings. We don’t look after the roads which come under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). We have a new scheme in the road sector called North Eastern Road Development Scheme (NERDS), which is meant for inter-state roads, usually called the ‘orphan roads’ and we are developing them. Three roads are under construction and we are looking to build more projects.

Q: What is your perception about the railway connectivity of the North East?

A: The investment by Railways has increased manifold in the North East. The construction of railway line to Sairang near Aizawl and near Imphal in Manipur is in full swing. In the next two years, the projects will be completed. The line to Sabroom is being made in Agartala. Some more lines are being constructed. The broad gauge network has touched the entire North East.

The Pakyong Airport in Sikkim is already complete. With the Udan scheme in place, all the non-operational and under construction airports will become functional. In fact, Assam is one of the States with the highest number of airports in the country.

Q: Please brief about the Akhaura Agartala railway line project which is going to connect India-Bangladesh.

A: We are funding the Indian side of the project and the other side is being funded by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The project is not seamlessly on broad gauge. The line in Bangladesh is both meter and the broad gauge, at some stages. The more linkages we have with the other neighbouring countries, the better it is. The Barak waterway is on board now. Once it becomes operational, it will be easier for the people of Assam to commute because they will have the option of taking the Brahmaputra route and the Barak route. The Indian side of the work is already in progress. Both the countries are in close coordination to complete this project.

Q: What challenges are you facing for implementing the projects?

A: The main challenge is of mindset and perceptions. People from various parts of India have never visited North East. The challenge is to increase the tourism beyond Guwahati. The same is for investment and for that we are trying to hold various events to create awareness about the growing opportunities there. People in the country must know about the beautiful seven sister States. The North East Tourism Council should build specific packages according to nature, wildlife, adventure etc. I always request people to go to North East and do their meetings. Every capital city boasts of good hotels which should be utilised. The second challenge is of the bankers. They are scared of giving funds to the first generation of entrepreneurs. People of North East are risk lovers. Banks are generally very hesitant to give loans in the north eastern region. Access to the credit should be provided to the people for the economic growth of the region.

The long-pending Tori-Balumath railway line (19.3 Kms), a crucial project for faster coal transportation from mines in Jharkhand to power plants, will be inaugurated today, the Railways ministry said.

Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha will inaugurate the railway line through video-conferencing and a train would also be flagged off on the newly-constructed section, the ministry said in a statement here.

Tori Junction (station code TORI) and Balumath are the railway stations serving the city of Chandwa which is the connecting point of Latehar and Hazaribag districts. It also connects Lohardaga Station belongs to the Eastern Railway zone of the Indian Railway.

The 19.3-km Tori-Balumath railway line in Jharkhand is part of the 44-km Tori-Shivpur section and work on the project had started in August 2000, with an initial completion date in 2006.

The line was completed at a cost of Rs 1,063 crore.

The statement said the railway line will facilitate faster transportation of coal from Central Coalfields Limiteds Magadh, Amrapali, Chandragupta and Sanghamitra open cast mines.

The project is being funded by the coal major and implemented by the Railways, it said.

The railways earns a revenue of Rs 100 crore for every 1 MT of coal transported to about 500 km.

Even if 100 MT is to be transported by Tori-Shivpur, this railway line will generate a revenue of about Rs 10,000 crore per annum (for an average lead of 500 km), the statement said.

This railway line will significantly reduce air pollution and carbon foot print and will promote environmental friendly transportation of coal.

The Indian Railways has fast-tracked its land monetisation project, a move that could potentially boost its investible resources. The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) will invite bids for commercial development of 30 land parcels by mid-April, an official source said, adding that the transporter’s potential receipts as lease rentals from these land parcels could be around Rs 7,000 crore over a period of 10 years.

The railways’ plan is to mop up at least Rs 19,000 crore over the next five years from land monetisation, which means more land parcels will be put to commercial use soon. “The RLDA is letting out land to developers who will be selected on the basis of premium (rentals) they are willing to pay. The premium offered for five land pieces — in Shimla, Bandra, Raxaul, Gwalior and Padi (Chennai) — that have been let out recently is around Rs 72 crore. A Jhansi land is also ready (for leasing out) which will fetch Rs 30.5 crore,” said the official.

Tenders for nine other land parcels are already floated and six more will be done soon, he added. Developers will be free to decide the type of commercial use, which includes hotel, mall or anything that is commercially viable depending upon the location. The official said the transporter expects bigger sums as premium from Sarai Rohila (Rs 2,000 crore) and Ashok Vihar (Rs 1,500 crore) in Delhi, and another parcel in Bandra (Rs 2,000 crore) in Mumbai.

While developers are required to pay 10% of the total premium upfront, they can then enjoy a no-payment option for another two years. Payment will restart from third year onwards and will be staggered till the 10th year. “Developers though have the option of paying full premium upfront, if they so wish,” added the official.

RLDA was set up in 2007 and was empowered to identify portions of the transporter’s vacant land prone to commercial exploitation. However, little progress has been made by RLDA given that it was constrained by land use restrictions imposed by state governments and other issues, including an earlier policy of earmarking land to it in a piecemeal fashion by the Railway Board.

As per its annual report, the railway arm transferred a meagre Rs 22 crore to the ministry of railways in 2016-17 and 2015-16, each. At the start of the current financial year, the total land entrusted by the railways to RLDA stood at 485.70 hectares. At the same time, the railways had a total of 51,648 hectare of vacant land —though a majority are in strips along railway tracks that are not commercially viable — and around 862 hectares under encroachment. The railways, as a thumb rule, keeps 15 metres of vacant land on each side of tracks.

The transporter is busy identifying its vacant land parcels for its own current and future projects too. The lands are being demarcated so that encroachments can be removed and land parcels are ready for projects, when required. “The policy is yet to be approved by the railway minister. The railways is accessing how much land can be used in the foreseeable future,” said the official.

Once the surplus is established, these land parcels will be allocated for railway projects such as station redevelopment, freight sidings, warehouses, logistics parks and inter-modal stations. The surplus after these allocations will go for commercial development by RLDA.

The first of the three dedicated rail corridors planned for large coal mines in Jharkhand will become operational on Friday, unlocking the prospect of raising coal production by 149 million tonne a year and bringing railways closer to mopping up additional annual revenue of Rs 10,000 crore.

Coal and railway minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to inaugurate the Tori-Balumath section of the Tori-Shivpur dedicated railway link in Jharkhand’s North Karanpura area on Friday through video conferencing. The project will allow Central Coalfields Ltd to ramp up production from Magadh, and Amrapali mines as well as start production at Chandragupta and Sanghamitra blocks in North Karanpura area.

To put the rail corridor’s importance in perspective, consider the fact that just Magadh and Amrapali, where mining operations have been restricted due to constraints over evacuation facility, can fuel generation capacity of 20,000-25,000 MW by providing 102 million tonne of coal a year. Chandragupta and Sanghamitra can another 47 million tonne peak production once they mines are opened.

“This line will breathe life into CCL’s production by allowing us to raise output from Magadh and Amrapali as well as look at opening other mines. The Tori-Shivpuri corridor will have a capacity of 48 rakes per day, or 16 million tonne per annum, once the project is completed,” Central Coalfields chairman Gopal Singh told.

Explaining the earning potential for Railways, Singh said coal from North Karanpura mines will move through the corridor to power stations in Punjab at a distance of 1,200 km as well as generation plants only 200-300 kms away. “Railways earns Rs 100 crore for every million tonne of coal transported over 500 km. So if you average out the distance to 500 km, the corridor will generate a revenue of Rs 10,000 crore even if 100 million tonne coal is sent through the line,” Singh said.The project, funded by Central Coalfields, was initiated in August 2000 but work remained stuck due to issues pertaining to land and environmental clearances, missing the completion target of 2006. The issues were sorted out after the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014. The issues were finally resolved in March 2016 and a tentative completion deadline was set for December 2017.

Amidst a major push for expansion of the suburban Mumbai rail network in the Union Budget, the government today informed Parliament that the national transporter has incurred a loss of more than Rs 4,000 crore in the last three years in running the Mumbai locals.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha today, Minister of State for Railways Raen Gohain said that since 2014-2017, railways had incurred a loss of Rs 4280.50 crore by running the suburban rail network in Mumbai.

“Indian Railway is incurring losses by running local train services in metropolitan areas of Mumbai. In the last three years, while the total earnings was Rs 5206.16 crore, the expenditure was Rs 9486.66 crore and the loss was of Rs 4280.50 crore,” Gohain said.

In Budget 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the expansion of the Mumbai suburban train network, spread over 465km, at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore, and said the government also planned to allocate an additional Rs 40,000 crore for the city’s rail network.

The suburban railway in Mumbai operates 2,342 local train services and carries more than 7.5 million commuters daily, and this is the first time that the network is being expanded in a big way.

Gohain informed the House that while in 2014-2015, the national transporter lost Rs 1426.19 crore, the next year, it lost Rs 1477.55 crore and in 2016-2017, the railways incurred a loss of Rs 1376.76 crore.

The Indian Railways would invest Rs 75,000 crore on a signalling systemproject to be implemented across India, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said.

“We will bring the most modern technology of European Train Control System (ETCS) in India and it will be implemented across the country. It will ensure safe journey,” he told reporters here.

He said the South Western Railway officials have prepared the pre-feasibility report for the long-pending Bengaluru suburban railway and come up with a Rs 12,000 crore investment plan.

Goyal said 68 km of the 160 km suburban railway network will be elevated. In addition, the Railways would invest Rs 5,000 crore for upgrading the stations and for bringing in the most modern locomotives rail coaches.

He said he had written to the Karnataka chief minister in January that instead of 80-20 ratio of cost sharing between Karnataka government and Railways, where Karnataka’s share would be 80 per cent, he has proposed a 50-50 cost sharing.

“We can do a cost sharing of 50-50 between the state government and the Indian railways and against that, they (state governmen) can allow us to increase the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or Floor Space Index (FSI) of all our stations to five, so that we can raise some revenue by developing the stations, making them modern and passenger friendly.”

Replying to a query on the delay in trains, the minister said the delay in track renewal work was earlier hampering the speed of trains.

He said when the track is damaged and not replaced, safety is compromised and speed restriction is imposed slowing down the train.

Earlier 233 km of tracks were renewed every month but in December 2017, railways did 476 km of track renewal, he said.

“In January, 2018, railways did 576 km of track renewal and in February we did 560 km … That is the scale-up to make the Indian Railways safer. With this, all the speed restriction will go away and we will have faster trains,” Goyal said.

When asked about the Railways’ stand on the controversial Thalessery-Mysuru railway line, he said, “I am given to understand that there is lot of opposition to this line because it passes through very, very eco-sensitive wildlife areas and environment can be damaged.”

“In that situation, if it is not in the interest of Karnataka, we will certainly not like to damage eco-sensitive zone or the wildlife area. In that case, Indian Railways has no particular interest that this project has to be pursued.”

The Union minister also inaugurated an all women railway station at Banaswadi in Bengaluru, the fifth one in the country.

He also launched a mechanized laundry with a capacity to wash 10,000 bed rolls everyday.

Goyal also released a booklet ‘New Railways, New Karnataka‘ which showcases the work done by the South Western Railway since 2014.

The state government is yet to respond to the Centre’s proposal to go for 50:50 cost-sharing in Bengaluru suburban railway project, in return for granting of FAR 5 (floor area ratio) for commercial development railway stations in the city.

Railway minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that the Centre was willing to extend all support for the project, provided the Siddaramaiah-led government reciprocated.

Earlier, the Centre had agreed to 80:20 cost-sharing with the state, bearing the higher cost and later suggested that it will bear half of the cost.

“We wrote to the chief minister in January seeking a generous FAR so that the railways can use the property commercially by raising five-storey structures. We are yet to get any response,” said Goyal. The railway ministry said the Centre usually bears 20% of the cost in suburban railway projects, and the rest has to come from the state. But the ministry, the minister said, appreciated Karnataka’s tight financial position, and hence offered to chip in with half the project cost in return for grant of FAR of five times as has been done in Mumbai.

The railways, the minister said, has begun survey work on the proposed 160-km of Bengaluru suburban rail network using drones which will not only speed up the work, but will also be a better guide on alignments and other aspects. The railways will spend Rs 12,000 crore on this project, and invest another Rs 5,000 crore on modern locos and coaches for Bengaluru.

COACHING TERMINAL 

The railways will launch the first phase of the coaching terminal at Byappanahalli with three platforms and four pit lines by December this year, and complete the second phase of opening new platforms and pit lines by December next year. The city has two coaching terminals — the City railway station and Yeshwantpur. The upcoming coaching terminal will help railways introduce new trains to and from Bengaluru which can commence and terminate at Byappanahalli. The larger plan of transforming the station into a world-class one will take some more time, the minister said.

The Minister also launched eight new local services including one pair between Byappanahalli and Whitefield, one pair between Byappanahalli and the city railway station and two pairs between Hosur and Banaswadi.

Mahindra group-owned automotive design firm Pininfarina is eyeing opportunities in sectors like railways, real estate and infrastructure development in India to strengthen the non-automotive business.

The Turin-based company generates majority of its revenues from the automotive sector.

“We want to have balanced revenues between automotive and non automotive verticals,” Pininfarina CEO Silvio Pietro Angori told PTI at the Geneva Motor Show.

The company needs to lookout for verticals where there is highest opportunity for growth and wherever it can make a difference, he said.

“We don’t want to be me too company. We don’t want to go to verticals where we can’t make a difference,” Angori said.

In India, the company is looking at sectors like infrastructure development, transportation and real estate via its architecture arm which currently accounts for just 5 percent if its revenues globally.

“We see one of the verticals expanding in India, transportation business, the railways business. Infrastructure work in India is one of the targets we have. Also real estate including private housing,” Angori said.

He further said: “Transportation, private housing, railways in general terms these are the domains in which we see the largest opportunities.”

When asked about the kind of services the company would like to offer in India, Angori said: “Imagine metro stations, buildings and skyscrapers.”

The company’ architectural division has designed residential houses, government buildings at various locations in the US, Brazil, Hong Kong and Singapore, he added.

“We have done Istanbul airport tower control. We do that kind of stuff. India needs infrastructure and therefore we are looking into that segment,” Angori said.

On the automotive business, he said the company’s focus is on sustainable mobility domain — electric and hybrid vehicles.

“Today 75 percent of the projects we have are in sustainable mobility domain…we have around dozen of different projects in the segment currently,” Angori said.

In 2015, Mahindra group had announced to acquire Pininfarina for an overall outgo of over 50 million after months of negotiations.

Tech Mahindra owns around 76 percent stake in Pininfarina.