Railways must use its land bank to get extra revenues: CAG

Comptroller and Auditor General of India ( CAG) Vinod Rai has advised the Railways to judiciously use its land bank to generate additional revenues.

"Indian Railway is the second-largest owner of real estate after the armed forces. This land bank's optimal utilisation will add to the bottomline of the Railways. These assets can be utilised to generate revenues," he said.

Rai was delivering the key note address at the Railway Staff College here late last evening.

He said it is not advisable for the Railways to start new trains or projects every year. Some of the new projects have not taken off due to non-allocation of funds.

There is a tendency to announce new trains, lines and projects in the Railway Budget every year, Rai said, adding any planning for the Railways should be sustainable.

The infrastructure set up five to six decades ago is not in good shape now. Despite two decades of experiments, the Government undertaking has not been able to provide green toilets in trains, the CAG remarked.

He stressed the need for restoring public confidence in Railways' governance.

The Railway Staff College celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on January 31, 2012.