Railway ministry working on $5 billion fund to finance infrastructure projects

The Ministry of Railways (MoR) is in advanced stages of finalising a proposal to create a $5 billion fund, the Railways of India Development Fund (RIDF), to finance its various infrastructure projects. Once the proposal for floating the fund is finalised, it will be placed before the cabinet for its approval. The proposed fund will be anchored by the World Bank. Nearly 20 per cent of the funding will come from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the balance is expected to come from pension and sovereign funds. It is being planned that the World Bank will route funds through the MoF, which will then be invested in RIDF as equity. Another MoR initiative is the setting up of a regulatory authority for fixing fares. The formation of the authority is likely to be announced through an executive order soon.