Indian Railways' high speed rail project to get foreign boost
Ankur Sharma(India today) New Delhi,
HIGHLIGHTS
Chief for HSRC could be from Japan, France, Spain and China.
Appointment process to be complete by November....
more...

Work to begin early 2018.
Indian Railways' high speed rail project is likely to have a foreign boss. More than six months after the formation of the High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (HSRC), railways have begun the hunt for its chief. A senior railway ministry official said post is open for applications from foreign railway officials who have expertise in executing bullet trains.
APPOINT FOREIGN EXPERTS
Since, Indian Railway does not have any experience of bullet trains, the ministry may also appoint an expert from foreign railway systems like Japan and France as managing director of the High Speed Rail Corporation Limited. The Centre had formed the HSRC for development and implementation of high speed rail projects.
These include country's first bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad being developed by Japan. The special purpose vehicle will also oversee and execute the diamond quadrilateral high speed projects in India.
NAMO's DREAM PROJECT
Since high speed train is a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, railway ministry cannot afford any delay in the High Speed Rail Corporation Limited project. "India does not have a single high speed rail corridor capable of running trains at speeds of over 250 kmph.
We are expecting applications from qualified people from India and abroad to head the high speed rail corporation," said a top railway board official.
SPAIN, CHINA, FRANCE EXPRESS INTEREST
Sources said countries like Japan, France, Spain and China have shown keen interest in developing high speed rail network in India and the chief of HSRC could be one from these countries.
Notably, the bullet train will be developed by Japan while feasibility studies are being conducted on other high speed corridors by Spain, China and France.
Railway Ministry has invited applications for the post of a managing director and three other directors, one each for projects, electrical and systems and finance.
APPOINTMENT PROCESS COMPLETE BY NOVEMBER
Officials said the appointment process will be completed by November this year. The chief of the HSRC will be selected by the search cum selection committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary which will also involve Chairman of the Railway Board. Executing the bullet train is a priority for the railway ministry.
While the MoU has been signed between India and Japan, the Rs 79,000 crore loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will be signed by end of this year.
Subsequently, Japan will go ahead with appointment of design and general consultant for the project which is only possible by mid-2017.
But such is the urgency that India has requested Japan to appoint the consultant before the loan agreement is signed and grant Rs 1500 crore towards consultancy fee.
WORK TO BEGIN EARLY 2018
Actual work on the project is likely to begin by early 2018 and the project is targeted to be completed by 2023. The other high speed corridors being executed by HSRC include Delhi - Mumbai, Mumbai - Chennai and Delhi Kolkata.
Railway officials said the ministry would follow a two-pronged approach in this respect. The first approach would be to raise the speed of segregated passenger corridors using conventional technology to 160 to 200 kmph.
The second approach would be to build state-of-the-art high speed corridors up to 350 kmph through the PPP mode.