NEW DELHI : The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, September 7, approved a policy for long-term leasing of Indian railway land for implementing the PM Gati Shakti framework, under which, the long-term leasing of railway land for a period of 35 years would be enabled for setting up cargo terminals.

On railroad property, 300 cargo terminals would be built during the following five years.

After the Union Cabinet meeting, Anurag Thakur, the minister of information and broadcasting, told the media that in addition to leasing the land for building cargo terminals, these land parcels would also be used for building social infrastructures like hospitals and schools through a public-private partnership model. The minister added that solar plants would also be built on land owned by railroads. The minister informed new stakeholders would be able to lease land for up to 35 years at a rate of 1.5% of the land's market value.

A transparent bidding process will allow current stakeholders to participate in this plan, he noted. 

According to government sources, the programme will guarantee roughly 1.2 lakh jobs and increase revenue for Indian Railways.

The proposed modifications will make it possible for Concor to be privatised since they will enable strategic buyers to lease land from railways for far less money over a longer period of time. One of the main recommendations made by the Concor investment advisors was this.

The transfer of management control and the sale of the government's 30.8 percent stake in the business were both approved by the Cabinet in November 2019.

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