New Delhi: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav The Railways on Tuesday said it has set a new norm of releasing payments to private players within 30 days, thereby eliminating the “biggest risk”. contractors face. If Payment If the challan is not done within 30 days, the Railways will pay interest on the amount, he said.
But CII Partnership SummitVaishnav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the Railways to take the biggest risk in government contracts. “When we made this effort, we found that payment risk is the biggest risk in any contract. How did we solve it? Today, in most railway contracts, if the invoice is not paid within 30 days, the government will charge you interest. Will pay. Would you believe it? This has started happening. The psychological effect of this on the people managing the contract is that if I have to pay the interest, my job is gone. Instead of contractors, it is now the reverse and all payments are digital,” he said.
Officials said this provision has been made in all new tenders and projects funded by the government.
In the case of contracts for government-funded highway projects by the Ministry of Highways, this provision for payment has been in place for years and the contract provision also specifies that if the government agencies fail to do so, they will pay interest that the bank 3% above the rate.
Earlier, Vaishnav said that the government has paid more attention to railways since 2014 and its results are visible. He said that after decades the share of freight carried by rail has started increasing. “With a higher share in the Railways, the logistics cost will come down dramatically… Our focus in the Railways is to significantly increase the carrying capacity of the Railways,” he said.
The minister also said that the Railways has identified 70 major bottlenecks and these would be removed in the next two years. He said the national transporter has placed orders for 85,000 wagons and 1,200 locomotives. Vaishnav said there are now plans to add 1,000 more locomotives annually to meet the requirement.
But CII Partnership SummitVaishnav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the Railways to take the biggest risk in government contracts. “When we made this effort, we found that payment risk is the biggest risk in any contract. How did we solve it? Today, in most railway contracts, if the invoice is not paid within 30 days, the government will charge you interest. Will pay. Would you believe it? This has started happening. The psychological effect of this on the people managing the contract is that if I have to pay the interest, my job is gone. Instead of contractors, it is now the reverse and all payments are digital,” he said.
Officials said this provision has been made in all new tenders and projects funded by the government.
In the case of contracts for government-funded highway projects by the Ministry of Highways, this provision for payment has been in place for years and the contract provision also specifies that if the government agencies fail to do so, they will pay interest that the bank 3% above the rate.
Earlier, Vaishnav said that the government has paid more attention to railways since 2014 and its results are visible. He said that after decades the share of freight carried by rail has started increasing. “With a higher share in the Railways, the logistics cost will come down dramatically… Our focus in the Railways is to significantly increase the carrying capacity of the Railways,” he said.
The minister also said that the Railways has identified 70 major bottlenecks and these would be removed in the next two years. He said the national transporter has placed orders for 85,000 wagons and 1,200 locomotives. Vaishnav said there are now plans to add 1,000 more locomotives annually to meet the requirement.
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