New Delhi: In a bid to attract investors, the Centre is likely to allow private companies to set passenger fares once they start operating train services.
According to reports, the central government believes that its decision to allow private players in Indian Railways will bring an investment of around USD 7.5 billion in the next five years.
The central government in July had asked private firms in India to submit their expression of interest to run passenger trains in 109 routes via 151 trains.
The reports further claimed that Alstom SA, Bombardier Inc, GMR Infrastructure Ltd, and Adani Enterprises Ltd have expressed their interest in these projects.
For its seven new bullet train projects-- Delhi-Varanasi, Mumbai-Nagpur, Delhi-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Mysore, Delhi-Amritsar, Mumbai-Hyderabad, and Varanasi-Howrah, the Indian Railway has confirmed that it is going to have private partners for the construction and operation procedures.
Indian Railways need to be modernized as the Centre is betting big on low-cost loans from Japan to build India's first bullet train by 2023.
The government has also taken measures to enhance the speed of passenger trains.