Railways clear new land licensing fee policy, proposal sent to Cabinet for approval

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New Delhi: Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday (March 10) said that the new land licensing fee (LLF) policy for the Indian Railways has been cleared by the ministry and that it will soon get the approval from Union Cabinet as well.

“We had a detailed round of engagement with the private sector and also Niti Aayog before finalising the LLF. We had inter-ministerial consultation as well. Now, we have finalised the policy and got my approval too. It is going to the Cabinet soon,” Goyal said.

He added that the proposal has been sent to Cabinet Secretary.

The new LLF policy for facilities built on railway land will help end the deadlock over a key issue that has halted the process of privatising the state-run Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor).

The policy will apply to Concor and other private container train operators setting up terminals on land leased from Indian Railways. This will help create a level playing field.

According to the proposal, the Ministry of Railways will levy an annual land license fee at the rate of 3 per cent of the industrial land value per acre where the terminal is located.

Goyal said that Concor is expected to handle at least 10 million tonnes (MT) more freight traffic by the end of this financial year compared to the pre-COVID level.