Former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnaw to head railway ministry as Goyal moves out
Vaishnaw’s entry into the railway ministry comes at a time when the national carrier has been mulling ways of generating revenue through different streams, including the non-fare revenue segment.
50-year-old Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Odisha Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday took oath as a cabinet minister in a major reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bureaucrat turned politician, who has been given the charge of the railway ministry, was elected to the Upper House as a BJP candidate two years ago.
A 1994 batch IAS officer, Vaishnaw was particularly known for his involvement in the Public Private Policy framework in infrastructure projects.
An IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) graduate, Vaishnaw quit government service in 2008 and went to Wharton University in the United States to pursue MBA. On his return, after working for top firms, he set up his own automotive components manufacturing units in Gujarat. He then held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens.
Vaishnaw’s entry into the railway ministry comes at a time when the national carrier has been mulling ways of generating revenue through different streams, including the non-fare revenue segment, leasing out its vast pool of vacant land and, most importantly, opening doors for Public Private Partnership (PPP) for its trains and stations. It has felt the need to bring in private investment to upgrade its facilities and infrastructure, while keeping an eye on the competition as domestic airlines take away its AC class passengers and passengers increasingly opt to travel by road for shorter distances.
The Indian Railways plans to introduce private trains on its network in phases, with the first dozen to be introduced in the 2023-24 financial year and 151 such trains by 2027. In its pre-bid meeting, Bombardier Transportation India, Siemens Limited, Alstom Transport India Ltd were among the initial 23 firms that evinced interest in running private trains in India.
During his tenure as an IAS officer, Vaishnaw worked as the district magistrate-cum collector of Balasore and Cuttack districts. He was also involved in the rescue efforts when the super cyclone hit Odisha in 1999, killing at least 10,000 people.
Vaishnaw worked in Odisha till 2003 before being appointed as deputy secretary in the office of former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. He was later appointed as Vajpayee’s private secretary after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lost the election in 2004.
Interestingly, in April, Vaishnaw was also nominated as a member of the Press Council of India, for three years.