“Many states governments, including Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, are keen to develop famous aluminum Roof system manufacturers a few stations in their states,” said Mr Prabhu. We have decided to work together. It is a unique idea to enter into JVs with state governments,” said Mr Prabhu. Union railways minister Suresh Prabhu has proposed setting up of a multi-modal transport planning board with state governments for better movements of passengers and goods.. Mr Prabhu added that the initiative would further boost “cooperative federalism”. Making a case for better synergy between road and Railways, Mr Parbhu reasoned that the roads have seen massive investment in the recent decades, which are not matched by what has been spent on the expansion of the rail networks. “We will have this (agreement) with 17 states.

Mr Prabhu was speaking on the occasion of the signing of memorandum of understandings between Railways and Kerala and AP governments for the formation of joint venture companies to ensure faster implementation of rail pro-jects. Mr Prabhu said that since land is a state subject, the initiative would expedite completion of projects taken up jointly. He added that Railways has written to 17 states on the proposal.Union railways minister Suresh Prabhu has proposed setting up of a multi-modal transport planning board with state governments for better movements of passengers and goods.The Railways has so far signed such agreements with Orissa and Maharashtra.

The JV companies will be now responsible for identifying projects, land acquisition and possible financing in addition to government funding and also monitoring. The JV companies will have 51 per cent stake of the respective state governments and 49 per cent stake of the railways. “Since minor ports are with state governments, there is a need for multi-modal transport planning so that the rail and road can complement each other in the movement of goods,” said Mr Prabhu, who added that he has asked the Maharashtra government for staggered office timings to ease pressure on the Mumbai suburban services