Chhattisgarh inks JV to lay rail network

In order to build world class rail network across the mineral rich state, the state government in Chhattisgarh has recently inked an agreement with Indian railways and became the fifth state after Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala and Odisha, which have already signed such joint ventures with Indian Railways. These agreements have been aimed at creating state-specific joint venture companies to undertake project development tasks, said sources, claiming that the move also includes resource mobilization and monitoring of mutually identified rail infrastructure projects with equity participation of Union Ministry of Railways. The State Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have also agreed to form similar joint venture companies to set up the targeted rail network. The Joint Venture Company can form Project Specific Subsidiary Company (Project SPV) which may have equity holding by other stakeholders like Banks, PSUs, Ports, Mining Companies and so on, said an official spokesperson.