Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday clarified that fears of of privatizing railway operations are misplaced, saying seeking private participation is aimed at raising funds.
Addressing an Asia Society event through video conferencing, Prabhu said that some people, especially the unions, "do not understand" the difference between merely getting private capital and privatisation.
"There are unions who feel that Railways is going to be privatised, government will not own Railways anymore. Railways will continue to be an important, dominant part of India's social-economic culture and Government of India will make sure that we've proper trade-offs between private participation which can come through proper regulatory framework," he said, according to MoneyControl.com.
Since the Narendra Modi government came to power, a lot of talk has been generated around foreign and private investment in the railways.
This has been opposed by unions, who represent the two-million strong workforce of the state employer.
Two of the unions had even come forward to offer employees' provident fund deposits for upgrading the rail network.
The resource crunch of the railways requires private investment, which would prove to be a "win-win" situation, benefiting the country and all its stakeholders - investors, passengers and most importantly the employees, Prabhu said.
The Railway Minister added that "he wants to make Railways "vibrant, sustainable and an efficient effective business organisation" and promised to never let go of its agenda of doing social good.
