As per report unable to get further allocations from the Finance Ministry under the Nirbhaya Fund, Indian Railways is exploring the loan route to raise Rs 2,500 crore to install CCTVs at all stations and coaches to ensure state of the art surveillance systems in the entire rail network across the country. Accordingly the loan is to be raised through Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), the finance arm of the national transporter.
Meanwhile there is a total requirement of Rs 3,000 crore for the CCTV project, out of which Rs 500 crore has already been allocated by the Finance Ministry under the Nirbhaya Fund. A senior Railway Ministry official told "While 436 stations are being equipped with CCTVs, 547 more stations would be covered under the Nirbhaya Fund this year”. Moreover after giving top priority to safety and security at rail premises, the Budget for 2018-19 had approved CCTV systems in 58,276 coaches and 5,121 stations in the Indian rail network.
Furthermore the Railways could not get the Finance Ministry's nod for
further allocation under Nirbhaya Fund and was told to raise resources on its
own and so it has been decided to raise Rs 2,500 crore through IRFC, with
Railtel repaying the loan. Railtel, the telecom wing of the Railways, is
responsible for executing the CCTV projects.
