Transparency is priority in Indian Railway works, says minister Suresh Prabhu

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said the Union government has initiated administrative reforms to augment the industrial sector benefiting the employment generation in the long run.

At an interaction programme organised by Udupi Chamber of Commerce, he said India was considered an adverse place for doing business till recently. Today, the World  Bank has increased 12 points for India in the index of doing business. India currently is in below 100 mark and has the goal to reach Top 5 position in the next five years, he added. 
Prabhu said the government has announced start-up programmes which ensure tax redemption, eco system for industry, no inspections and no bankruptcy for first three years.


This will enable business establishments on a larger scale and also create a lot of employment opportunities. There is a new wave in India and the people are interested to be job providers rather than job seekers, he observed.

Pointing out that more than 70 per cent of the smart phones of the world are made in Taiwan by one company, the minister said that phone components are secured from China. The owner of the company in Taiwan has come forward to invest in India. The components are made by small and medium enterprises which helps larger business to grow, he remarked. 

Elaborating on pending plans, he said Indian Railways has collaborated with Japan to make high speed trains with huge investments. About 85 per cent of the Rs 1,00,000 crore project will be made in India. The components are made in India. 

The first high speed train will be introduced from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Japan has lent money at 0.1 per cent interest rate. There will be no interest for the amount for the first 15 years, he added.

Prabhu said Maruti Suzuki company, which was started in India, was responsible for the origin of small and medium enterprises. Small companies end up as key suppliers. India has become a global supplier next only to China because of Maruti Suzuki, he noted. 
The minister said China has a wide network of high speed trains in the world. “Its achievements are noteworthy. What Japan could not achieve in 50 years, China has achieved in a few years. Contracts worth Rs 40000 crore have been given to a locomotive manufacturing company in Bihar and it has supplied cost-effective and environment-friendly products, he stated. 

Prabhu said plans have been chalked out to increase connectivity with efficiency and better speed. India will be in a different type of growth trajectory, he remarked.

‘No interference’

Asserting that transparency is the priority in Railways, the minister said he does not interfere in tendering process, postings and transfers. 

He added tendering process of works, worth more than Rs 40,000 crore, has been started and added that e–tendering will be part of Indian railways in the days to come.

Prabhu said engineering works can be seen on tablets and brokers are not entertained. The bureaucracy should act on the visions. The previous governments were holding power rights and it was another disaster move. He added that the 1948 Act says power generation is the government’s prerogative. A new law was enacted recently. Following this, investments to the tune of 250 billion dollars were done in the aftermath in power sector. 

He lamented that the distributing companies in states are in loss. The doubling work of Konkan railway tracks have been taken up at a cost of Rs 250 crore borrowed from LIC, he added.

Replying to a query he said that there are two major trunk roads at all-India level: Delhi to Mumbai and Delhi to Kolkata, which are heavily congested. Measures have been taken to decongest the network. Freight traffic will be taken away from the passenger line and 8000 kilometres of port connectivity has been envisaged, he added.

Source: Deccan Herald

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