The Railway Board has issued an order that will now make public sector companies, including those under the national transporter, compete with the private sector in the open market for rail contracts. The order on Tuesday, in effect, takes away a level of protection the PSUs enjoyed under a policy formed in 2019 which gave them dibs at juicy rail contracts.
Sources indicate that the decision taken by Railway Minister Ashwini Kumar aims to cut down on paybacks, bring in more competition and thus lower the Railways’ cost.
“The policy approved by the Board, in their meeting held on 19.12.2019 to introduce competition amongst the PSUs for awarding Railway works, hereby stands withdrawn with immediate effect,” the order stated.
