Jaipur : The proposal of foreign investment of Rs 35 thousand crore in Rajasthan Roadways does not seem to be being fulfilled at present. Because the state government has not considered this investment proposal as feasible. In such a situation, there is no possibility of an MoU on this proposal during the Rising Rajasthan Summit. In fact, there is no possibility of a decision on the proposal of handing over Rajasthan Roadways to private hands. An Australian company had proposed an investment of Rs 35 thousand crore in roadways to the state government. Ritesh Pandit, CEO of Australia’s E-Mobility Infra and Consulting Private Limited Company, had sent an investment proposal to the state government.
Under this proposal, it was said that 15 thousand electric buses will be operated on roadways in the next 15 years. At the same time, it was said that all the bus stands, workshops and other properties of the roadways will be given on lease to the private company for 99 years. Regarding this, the Roadways Headquarters has sent its report on the proposal to the state government.
Therefore the proposal is not feasible
A senior official of the roadways management, on the condition of anonymity, said that this investment proposal is not feasible for the roadways. In fact, it has been said that all the assets of the roadways will be taken on free lease, but it has not been made clear anywhere about how much will be paid to the roadways administration in lieu of this. There is also a plan to run 15 thousand EV buses simultaneously in the state. Not possible, because currently not many EV buses are operating in the entire country. On the other hand, a monopoly has been sought on all the assets of the roadways and on all the routes, while the assets of more than 100 bus stands and workshops of the roadways are worth several thousand crores. On the other hand, there is no mention in the proposal about repaying the liabilities of the roadways. Similarly, there is no mention about salary, pension and social security of roadways employees. However, it has been claimed that if this proposal is accepted then the roadways deficit can be eliminated.
Important points of investment proposal
Proposal to invest $6.5 billion in Rajasthan in the next 15 years.
Proposal to operate 15 thousand inter city electric buses.
20500 people associated with roadways will get direct employment in the state.
Proposal to take all depots, bus stands and workshops of roadways on lease for 99 years.
Roadways administration should take permission for construction, electricity, water and other necessary permissions at bus stands.
Proposal to provide lease money for operation of bus stands on Design, Build, Operate and Maintain model.
Asked for information about existing routes, frequency, toll charges and other expenses of roadways.
