Govt to review proposal to allow FDI in railways

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday said he hopes the government would soon consider a proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian Railways.

The proposal, first aired in January, would seek to unblock infrastructure bottlenecks on the world's fourth-largest railway network that have contributed to a halving of economic growth since the global financial crisis.

The railways is state-run at present.

The proposal would allow foreign investors to fully own new suburban services, high-speed tracks and connections to ports, mines and power stations, sources had said at the time.

(Reuters)