By Shri Girish, Joint Secretary, Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC)
The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) 2.0, announced on 23 February 2026 by the Government of India, will accelerate the privatisation of Indian Railways (IR) by monetising its assets. The target for money to be raised through monetisation of railway assets between 2025-26 and 2029-30 has been set at Rs. 2.62 lakh crore. This is a massive increase of 70% compared to the already huge target under NMP 1.0 between Rs 2021-22 and 2024-25, which was Rs. 1.52 lakh crore. The plan for privatisation of railway assets covers both the areas of goods and passenger movement.
So far, many people as well as rail workers believed that only non-core activities will be privatised while the core activity of running the goods and passenger trains will remain with the government. The NMP 2.0 plan will further shatter this belief. It has aimed at 180 private freight trains under the Design-Build-Operate (DBO) model.
Another major thrust in privatisation of goods movement is related to freight terminals. It is planned to set-up/improve 200 freight terminals using the Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for goods movement carried out by the Indian Railways. Similar private freight terminals are also planned under Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL).
Privatisation of railway stations will be continued. Under NMP 2.0, the IR plans to rebuild/improve 200 select stations by modernising facilities and expanding commercial spaces. The plan is to upgrade stations so that they serve as ‘City Centres’ with large commercial spaces for the general public (shopping, leisure, meetings, stay etc.). In these cases, The IR will carry out the modernisation which means the IR will spend capital for modernisation. Once modernised station is operational, its operation will be handed over to a private company under the Operate-Maintain-Transfer (OMT) model. Under this model, the private company will share a part of the revenue with the IR during the period of contract, which will be generally long term. Nearly Rs. 1 lakh crore are planned to be raised through this form of monetisation.
Another 15 stations are planned to be modernised using the PPP.
The IR will continue to monetise its other land assets in railway colonies, etc. using the PPP model.
Privatisation of various railway companies by selling their shares will be given a further push under the NMP 2.0. It is planned to sell shares of seven railway companies under the Ministry of Railways – Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Rail Vikas Nigam, Ircon International, RailTel Corporation of India, RITES and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR). Through repeated sale of the shares, out of the the government holding in the CONCOR is already 45 per cent privatised and the IRCTC is 38 percent private. Nearly Rs. 84,000 crore are planned to be raised through the sale of shares in these railway public sector enterprises.
Railway passengers and workers cannot accept the claim of the government that monetisation does not amount to privatisation as the ownership of the asset remains with the government. It is, as a matter fact, a worse form of privatisation where public money is used to create an asset and then it is handed over to a capitalist to earn profit upon payment of some small fee or a small share of profit.
A large part of production railway engines and coaches has already been privatised and the private share in the production of engines is planned to be further increased by curtailing/stopping production at the IR’s own production units.
The central government continues to claim that the IR will never be privatised and many people believe it. The stark reality is that year after year, more and more activities of the IR are getting privatised. Newer and newer areas are being taken up for privatisation of the IR. The NMP 2.0 further confirms this reality.
Privatisation by any name and in any form is anti-worker, anti-people and anti-social. Privatisation of railways makes a basic affordable mode of transport of people beyond the reach of many. Working people have to assert that the government cannot take away their right to affordable transport for the benefit of capitalists.
The only way to halt the privatisation agenda of the ruling class of capitalists is to first make the working people of aware of the reality of the step by step privatisation of the Indian Railways. The IR workers need to unite overcoming all barriers and build unity with tens crores of working people in the country who depend on it, to put up a strong fight against every attempt of privatisation.