The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the formation of joint venture companies with various state governments to mobilise resources for undertaking rail infrastructure projects.
The initial paid-up capital of the Ministry of Railways will be limited to ₹50 crore for each state. The joint venture companies would be formed with equity participation from the Ministry of Railways and the state governments concerned. Each joint venture will have an initial paid-up capital of ₹100 crore and based on the projects to be undertaken, further fund infusion would be done on approval of the project.
The joint ventures will be allowed to form project-specific special purpose vehicles with equity holding from other stakeholders such as banks, ports, public sector undertakings, mining companies, and others.
“This would ensure greater participation of state governments in implementation of railway projects, both in terms of financial participation as well as the decision-making process. This will also facilitate faster statutory approvals and land acquisition,” an official statement added.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved signing of various memorandums of understandings in the field of urban development. One such MoU is between SITNEF, Norway, and Central Public Works Department for cooperation in development of human resource capacity building and scientific research in recycling of construction and demolition waste in India.
Pact with Bloomberg Philanthropies
An MoU was also signed between the Ministry of Urban Development and Bloomberg Philanthropies, New York, to support the development of smart cities.
Bloomberg Philanthropies will work as knowledge partner and support the development and execution of a Cities Challenge under the Smart Cities Mission.
An MoU between India and Canada for cooperation in higher education was also renewed. Further, the Cabinet gave its approval for an MoU on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia, also called the 'Raptor MoU', with the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS).
Ex-facto approval was also given for signing of an MoU among BRICS countries for the BRICS Network University.
Further, the Cabinet also gave its approval for construction of 69 bridges including approach roads on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section of the Trilateral Highway in Myanmar at a cost of ₹ 371.58 crore.
The Cabinet also approved the exchange of the Airports Authority of India's land measuring 11.45 acres at Visakhapatnam Airport with an equivalent area of land offered by Visakhapatnam Port Trust for setting up of Multi Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) by Container Corporation of India at Visakhapatnam.