The Indian Railways on Tuesday signed a joint venture agreement with Chhattisgarh to develop railway infrastructure in the state.According to the railways ministry, it signed the MoU with Chhattisgarh government as part of its budget plans.
"Indian Railways has been working vigorously to reach every corner of the country through railway lines but people's expectations are lot more with the railway ministry," said Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, calling on all state governments to join hands his ministry to meet the expectations of people.
The MoU envisages formation of JV company having a 51 percent stake of the state government and a 49 percent stake of the railway ministry. The JV will focus on project development, resource mobilisation, land acquisition, project implementation and monitoring of critical rail projects.Prabhu said Chhattisgarh is a natural resources-rich state and has lot of potential for exploration and evacuation of the resources to other parts of the country and at national level."For this purpose, railway infrastructure needs to be developed in the state which will not only help the people of the state in availing better transport but will also bring huge freight to the railways," he said.Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh thanked Indian Railways, saying 760 km of additional railways lines were spread in the state in a very short time.