In a much-awaited decision amending the Railway Land Policy, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday lowered the railway land licence fee (LLF) from 6 per cent to 1.5 per cent. It also raised the lease period from 5 years to 35 years.
While addressing a Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, Union Minister Anurag Thakur announced that the amendment to the Railway Land Policy has been cleared. He also said that in the next five years, over 300 PM Gati Shakti cargo terminals will be developed.
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He said that with employment generation potential of about 1.2 lakh jobs, the policy will also bring more revenue to Railways. He also said raising the tenure of land lease will help develop more cargo terminals and attract more investors.
The move will also make the privatisation of Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) more attractive. Interested investors in CONCOR had earlier conveyed to the government that the land licensing fee was very high. They also urged the government to increase the lease tenure.
The latest move will help strategic buyers pay much lesser amounts as land rentals to Indian Railways for a longer period. This was one of the key suggestions by the investment advisors of CONCOR.
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The Cabinet in November 2019 had approved the disinvestment of the government’s 30.8 per cent shareholding in CONCOR, along with transfer of management control. DIPAM aims to get Rs 8,000 crore from the 30.8 per cent strategic sale of CONCOR.
Shares on Container Corporation of India on Wednesday were trading up by 8.07 per cent, or Rs 54.00, at Rs 723.20 apiece on the BSE.
