Public-private partnership (PPP) model projects in Indian railways: an overview of current models, framework, and policies

Abstract

Indian Railways has been the backbone of India's public transportation network for many decades. The IR network is among the world's most complicated, most comprehensive, and continually increasing web network. Indian Railways is one of the crucial ministries of the Government of India with the mandate to provide economic and efficient rail transportation in India to achieve the twin goals of economic integration and regional development. Indian Railway is a monopoly which employs about 12.27 Lakh employees and owns about 65000 RKMs track line. Every day IR plies about 13452 passengers trains daily. It transported about 844 Crores passengers with an average lead of 137.1 Kms in the year 2018-19. Further, as per the 2018-19 IR yearbook, IR plies about daily 9100+ goods trains and transported about 1227 million tons of Goods/Bulk transporter. Indian Railways every year cater to almost 15% of Passenger traffic and 35% of Goods Traffic as of 2018.