Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh has suggested that Railways Ministry allow development of railway networks through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) route. Deshmukh, who was in the capital to attend the NDC meeting, said railway networks in Maharashtra were limited and in acute need of augmentation. “When we request an augmentation, the ministry demands a 50 per cent cost sharing. This is beyond the capacity of states,” Deshmukh said at the meeting.

Underlining these facts, Deshmukh then pitched for a PPP-based model for developing railway infrastructure in his state and added that such projects be covered under the viability funding scheme of the Finance Ministry. While, the upcoming Mumbai Metro Railway is being developed as a PPP project, Maharashtra is simultaneously exploring PPP options for setting up the country’s first Maglev network on six Mumbai routes.

“Mumbai’s suburban railway carries six million passengers every day. But our systems have become so constrained that there is an urgent need to add more capacity. Allowing private participation in laying down new railway lines and related infrastructure can be one of the solutions,” he said. “We know the railways are not too open to this idea, but we feel it needs to be discussed,” he said.