Laying out ?inclusive growth? as its agenda, the Railway Budget has mooted an expert committee to advise the railway ministry on innovative financing and implementation of the??economically unviable? but socially desired projects. The committee has the mandate of identifying parts that are detached from overall infrastructure development and advising the government to innovate ways of financing schemes to connect such areas.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee said that the railway ministry would prepare a blueprint of the possible schemes which could be implemented in the next five years. Outlining her idea of development, the minister said that though these projects might be economically unviable but were an economic necessity for the people of those regions that have remained victims of backwardness and poverty. ?They need these projects even more?, the minister asserted and added that these projects may not meet the so called economic viability criterion but create economic assets which would be far more beneficial for future development.

Based on the recommendations of uneconomic branch lines committee, 1969, a review committee that was set up in 2007-08 identified 106 branch lines (all lines that join the main line network at one end only) as uneconomical and found that railways incurred a loss of about Rs 422 crore excluding dividend on that account.?

Additionally, the Rail Budget put forward a proposal to develop a project monitoring mechanism by setting up a project monitoring committee, to ensure that time lines are strictly adhered to and there is no slippage in project delivery. The minister admitted that there are considerable delays in project execution and implementation by the Railways. ?Hence all the initiatives indicated in the budget and the projects taken in hand would have to be strictly monitored for implementation in line with fixed target dates. With this, I hope to achieve substantial savings in cost associated with faulty planning and time over runs,? said?Banerjee.

According to an official estimate in the railways, around 61 projects remain incomplete at various stages of implementation for periods stretching from a month to 15 years. For instance, the rail link between Kashmir and the rest of India?the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line which started in 1994 at a cost of Rs 5,550 crore, has been a victim of inefficient execution. Around 15 years later, the project continues to languish while the?estimated cost for the venture has more than doubled to Rs 11,370 crore and completion date has been pushed further to 2012.

Socially desirable

•The Railway Budget has mooted an expert committee to advise the railway ministry on innovative financing and implementation of the??economically unviable? but socially desired projects

•The budget also put forward a proposal to develop a project monitoring committee to ensure that time lines are strictly adhered to and there is no slippage in project delivery