Indian railway minister Mr Dinesh Trivedi said that Indian Railways, the world's fourth largest rail network, will require a massive INR 560,396 crore for leap frogging to the next generation which will see bullet trains and modern stations.

Replying to a debate on the Appropriation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, he said that "I require INR 560,396 crore and I know where to get it from."

The minister said he has appointed an expert committee under chairmanship of telecom and IT expert Mr Sam Pitroda, which also has HDFC chief Mr Deepak Parekh and former SBI chief Mr MS Verma, to help Railways in raising these resources.

The Railways expects sizeable investment from the private sector in areas like building of world class stations on the lines Delhi Airport and modernization of trains. The Railways propose to set up Rail Station Authority of India, like the Airport Authority. The proposed body would be entrusted with building only world class stations.

The minister said a big investment of USD 1 trillion is envisaged to be spent on infrastructure, 50 per of which is going to come from the private sector.

The ambitious investment plans for the public transporter are more than five times its annual budget of close to INR 100,000 crore.

(Sourced from PTI)