Following is a short report from Telegraph.

Indian Railways has proposed a whopping Rs 251,000 crore investment in the 11th Five Year plan. The draft proposal to this effect has been submitted to the Planning Commission.

V. N. Mathur, member traffic of the Railway Board, said Rs 90,000 crore would come from internal accruals while about 29 per cent would be borrowed, including ECB.

Following is a relevant part from an interview in Hindu Businessline.

What about funding the plans?

We’ve submitted to the Planning Commission a Rs 251,000-crore proposal for implementation by the end of the Eleventh Plan. We’ve indicated mobilisation of Rs 90,000 crore from within and 29 per cent of the projected estimate by way of market borrowing. For the balance, we may have to approach the government for support. But then nothing has yet been finalised.

If the Indian government is going to pay such a huge portion it should insist that IR does not forget the backward areas of India.