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Rail CORP seeks pvt funds for Panvel-CST corridor

A day before the railway budget, a certain move by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation highlights the pitiable financial condition of the railway board even as the state hands over its wish list

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In a move which shows the pathetic financial condition of the railways, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has for the first time sent a proposal to the railway board, seeking its approval for private funding of an entire railway corridor between Panvel and CST.

The proposal also seeks the ministry's nod to allow the private investor to operate the approximately Rs10,000crore project after completion. The Panvel-Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus fast corridor for air-conditioned suburban trains one of the most important suburban projects in the city as it is crucial to improve suburban connectivity with the second airport coming up near Panvel.

"Even after getting aid from the state and the Centre, the railway board may not be able to fund the project. Making it a part of the ongoing Mumbai Urban Transport Project in partnership with the World Bank does not seem possible and so, we want to rope in a private party. A proposal has been sent to the railway board," said a senior railway official involved in planning and conceptualisation of railway projects.

An official from the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) said the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), the nodal agency for the airport project, may be made a strategic partner as it has a substantial land bank in Navi Mumbai, which could be used for commercial development by the private party so that it can fund the roughly Rs10,000-crore project.

"The private party should also have a certain comfort zone so that it could be convinced to fund it entirely. The Private-Public-Partnership model seems to be the only way out for funding the project, which has gained importance due to the airport," he said.
The final estimate has not been worked out as surveys are still on.

"If cleared by the railway board, the financial model for the project could be finalised in two months and we could have a clear estimate by early June," the MRVC official said.

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