MoR to announce plans for 10,000 km HSR corridors

The MoR is expected to announce its plans for constructing 10,000 km of high speed rail (HSR) corridors to connect all the major cities in the country in April 2018. The new HSR corridors will be built elevated atop existing or upcoming national highways or on rail land that runs parallel to existing rail routes. The programme is expected to entail an investment of Rs 1 trillion and is likely to be funded with the help of borrowings from financial institutions and multilateral agencies. Besides, funds will also be raised through monetisation of IR’s land bank and commercial exploitation of railway stations. Currently, the ministry has asked its officials to work on speed, scale and skill to achieve early implementation of these projects. Besides, it is also planning to issue large tenders, inviting all global majors, in order to keep the construction cost at a minimum.