The railways has started forming special purpose vehicles with state governments such as Odisha to undertake railway development in states.
"We want states to start forming special purpose vehicles (SPVs) so that they can bear part of the funding for such infrastructure,..There is already such a special purpose vehicle with Odisha.." a top Ministry official said, while speaking to the media.
Also, the railways plans to involve the External Affairs Ministry and Finance Ministry on how to raise substantial sum of money, the official said.
Simultaneously, the Railway Ministry has approached the Ministries of Power and Renewable Energy to do energy audit of the railways to find out the saving potential of the railways, he said.
He also said that the railways will have to take steps on how to minimise the cost of purchasing power. Fuel cost is the second largest cost for railways after staff costs. There is a scope to monetise the assets of the railways without selling land, which is something that the ministry would want to do.
There is a need to improve base kitchens and more base laundries. Also, customer service portals will be up and running soon, he added.
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry will be taking inputs from users through online platforms such as the Local Circles.
He added that the railways has the potential to earn thousands of crores of revenue through the advertising route, something that has not been pushed well enough.