Railway land and Rolling stock are significant tangible assets of Indian Railways which are leased out for generating revenues for the Government.

As on 31.03.2019, the total land available with the Indian Railways is 4.78 lakh hectares out of which 0.51 lakh hectare (approximately) land is vacant. This vacant land is mostly in the form of narrow strips along tracks and utilized for servicing and maintenance of track, bridges and other infrastructure. The vacant land is also utilized for execution of various infrastructural projects for meeting future growth needs of Railways which include projects like doubling/tripling and traffic facilities works, etc. The revenue earned through leasing of land for building, other purposes and property development of land and air space for the year 2018-19 and 2019-20 (upto Sept - 2019) is as under:

(Rs. in Crore)             

Year	Land Leased out for Building Purpose	Land Leased out for other purpose	Property Development of Land/Air space
2018-19	12.87	781.45	18.18
2019-20 (upto Sept - 2019)	6.04	503.47	1.31

 

Vacant land which is not required by Railways for its immediate operational use is also utilized to generate revenue through commercial development on long term lease basis by Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), wherever feasible. RLDA has been entrusted 75 sites measuring 239.52 hectares of land for commercial development as on date. During the year 2019-20 (upto Oct., 2019), RLDA has earned Rs.845.94 Cr.

With a view to maximize utilization of un-utilized/under-utilized parcel space in Brake Vans (SLRs) of various Mail/Express trains, scheme for leasing SLRs for parcel traffic was introduced by Ministry of Railways in November, 1991. Presently, the scheme is governed by ‘Comprehesive Parcel Leasing Policy’ (CPLP). Similarly, entire parcel capacity in full rake comprising of Parcel vans are leased out to the Private operator (registered leaseholders) by inviting bids through tenders between specific originating-destination stations. Presently, the scheme is governed by Policy for leasing of ‘Parcel Cargo Express Trains (PCET)’. Revenue earned through leasing of parcel space under the ‘CPLP’ and ‘PCET’ policy, during the fiscal year 2018-19 is Rs.645.22 Cr.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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