Centre must desist from corporatisation of Rlys units: Moily

New Delhi: Hitting out at the government over the proposed "corporatisation" of railway units, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily has on Friday said that such a move would be "ill-advised" as they have been performing well.

The former Union Minister claimed that according to a document prepared by the Railway Board, Indian Railways will conduct a detailed study of seven of its production units -- Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in West Bengal, Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Diesel Modernisation Works in Varanasi, Wheel and Axle Plant in Bangalore, and Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli.

"It's an ill-advised move because the seven production units have been performing well. These are all public assets built with taxpayers' money. More importantly they were doing a good job, both in quantitative and qualitative terms," Moily said in a statement.

"Rail Wheel Factory, Bangalore was originally known as Wheel and Axle Plant. It is a state-of-the-art plant, meeting bulk of the requirement of wheels, axles and wheelsets for the Indian Railways. The spare capacity available is profitably utilised to meet the domestic demands for non-railway customers and exports," Moily said.