Expert panel to make biz plan to help rlys chug on

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New Delhi: Mamata Banerjee’s Rail Budget 2009-10 was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday amidst heated comments from members of both the Houses over the priority given to West Bengal, even as Banerjee dismissed the charges and announced setting up an expert group headed by Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra to prepare a business plan for the improvement of railways.

Apart from Mitra, the expert group is likely to have top Rail Bhawan officials including member (traffic) and member (engineering) of the railway board as well as representatives from chambers of commerce and sectoral experts. The panel, which will report to Banerjee directly, will provide suggestions to carry forward the blueprint laid down in the Rail Budget.

“The minister for railways has given her vision in the Budget with a whole range of activities. We will use that as a template and from that draw the terms of reference in consultation with her,” Mitra told FE.

The expert group is expected to focus on areas like public private partnerships, funding plans for infrastructure projects, including the four new freight corridors announced in the Budget, commercial utilisation of the railways’ land bank as well as suggest ways for improving passenger amenities.

The Rail Budget was passed by voice vote after suspension of a rule which provides for referring of Demand for Grants and Appropriation Bills to the Standing Committees. The same practice will be followed for the Union Budget 2009-10, debate on which was initiated on Thursday in the Lok Sabha. The UPA is keen that the Budgets for the year are passed before July 31, as the demand for grants passed along with the interim Budget had made provisions only for the first four months of the fiscal.

Meanwhile, the recent one-upmanship between Banerjee and her predecessor Lalu Prasad also gained momentum during the debate on the Rail Budget in Lok Sabha with her being accused of favouring West Bengal. In response, the minister announced a slew of fresh measures to improve passenger facilities and safety.

Banerjee announced the introduction of two more non-stop “Duranto” (fast) trains from Delhi to Secunderabad and Delhi to Nagpur, in addition to 12 such trains already announced in the Rail Budget. She said that two of the 14 trains would be started within a month.