Chandrababu Seeks Key Railway PSU Offices in Andhra Pradesh

The Andhra Pradesh government has sought the establishment of regional, area and project implementation offices of key railway organisations in the state to strengthen coordination and accelerate major infrastructure projects. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu recently wrote to the Railway Board Chairman seeking offices of organisations such as RITES, CONCOR, RVNL, RLDA, RailTel, IRCTC, DFCCIL and IRFC. These organisations handle areas ranging from railway infrastructure development, project design and DPR preparation to logistics, telecommunications, passenger services and financing. The state government believes their physical presence in Andhra Pradesh would enable closer monitoring and faster implementation of projects.

The demand has gained significance following the establishment of the South Coast Railway Zone headquartered in Visakhapatnam. According to the state government, railway projects worth ₹58,530 crore are currently under execution in the zone, while projects worth another ₹51,000 crore are at the DPR stage and ₹20,740 crore worth of proposals are under survey. Proposed high-speed rail corridors passing through Andhra Pradesh are estimated at around ₹1.90 lakh crore. The government has therefore stressed the need for offices of CONCOR for logistics, RVNL for infrastructure works, RailTel for telecom services, RLDA for railway land development, RITES for technical consultancy, IRCTC for passenger and tourism services, DFCCIL for freight corridors and IRFC for railway financing.