PM to lay foundation stone in October for Mumbai's two elevated railway corridors costing Rs 34,000 cr

PM to lay foundation stone in October for Mumbai's two elevated railway corridors costing Rs 34,000 cr

The foundation stone of two new commuter rail corridors, Churchgate to Virar and CST to Panvel, will be unveiled next month by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The former is a Rs 23,000-crore project. The latter is a Rs 11,000-crore one.

These two projects are part of the state government's ambitious plan of a little over Rs 1 lakh crore to strengthen Mumbai's transportation infrastructure.

Union railways minister Suresh Prabhu last week reviewed the status of the pre-project development exercise. He and state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently said investors from abroad have evinced interest in providing long-term low interest loans for these two corridors.

The 48.3-km one between CST and Panvel, along the existing central line, will be elevated for 31.6 km and run parallel to the existing lines for 12.4 km on the surface. Churchgate-Virar entails 63.3 km along the existing western line, approximately 42 km of elevated stretch, eight km underground and 12 km on grade.

A state government official confirmed that efforts are on to kickstart the project development by laying foundation stone in October. Both projects are expected to be completed in five years and will be implemented by a joint venture of the railways and the state government, through a Special Purpose Vehicle.(more)

Employees grievances on 7th CPC to be referred to high-level panel

Employees grievances on 7th CPC to be referred to high-level panel

The government on Wednesday said the concerns raised by central government employees’ unions on the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission would be examined by a high-level committee of secretaries.

Representatives from various unions met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu on June 30. “They had requested that certain issues related to the pay scales and other recommendations of the Pay Commission to be raised before a committee of secretaries looking into grievances of employees,” a statement said.

“The ministers assured the union leaders that the issues raised by them would be considered by a high level committee,” it said. Read more.

Rail Budget 2016 Live:

Rail Budget 2016 Live: Operating ratio at 92% this year, up from 90% last year, says Prabhu

Investors can give rail related stocks a miss: analysts

Rail related stocks have underperformed the market thus far in calendar year 2016 (CY16) with counters such as Hind Rectifiers, Kernex Microsystems, Stone India and Titagarh Wagons skidding around 16% - 22%.

While the market participants are keenly eyeing the Union Budget proposals, analysts say the Railway Budget too assumes significance this time around given that it is being looked upon for its potential to rejig the investment cycle as well as bring transformative change to transportation in India.