Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, March 16, said that the Indian Railways will never be privatised and will always remain with the government of India.
However, he stressed the need to encourage private investment for more efficient functioning. “The country can progress towards high growth and create more employment opportunities only when the public and private sectors work together,” Piyush Goyal said.
He said the country can progress towards high growth and create more employment opportunities only when the public and private sectors work together.
Piyush Goyal said the Modi government has hiked investment in railways to Rs 2.15 lakh crore in 2021-22 fiscal, from Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2019-20 fiscal.
“We are focusing on passenger safety. I am happy to say that there has been no passenger death in the past two years. The last death due to a train accident happened in March 2019,” he said.
“People criticised lockdown, but had it not been done, the continuation of train services would have spread Covid-19 across the country. Railways arranged about 4,600 Shramik Special trains for migrant labourers with the distribution of about 2 crore free meals and water bottles,” the railway minister further added.
Piyush Goyal also said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, the country’s railway infrastructure has seen a new vision, and railways have brought prosperity to all sectors of the economy.
We wish to make Indian railways act as an “engine for growth” for the country; in this year’s Union Budget, over 2 lakh crores have been designated to improve railways.
He also slammed the previous government to make hollow announcements without implementing any projects to improve the infrastructure.
