The Railways Ministry will soon set up a regulatory body that will look into fares and an infrastructure development fund, reported NDTV. The World Bank will anchor the proposed $5-billion (Rs 32,242 crore approximately) fund for seven years.

While around 20% of the fund will be provided by the ministry, the balance will come from pension and sovereign funds, reported PTI. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said, "There were certain hurdles that were to be cleared for the proposed $5-billion Railways of India Development Fund before we seek Cabinet approval. We are almost done the structuring of the fund and hope we will be able to take it to the Cabinet soon."

According to Prabhu, expansion of infrastructure and capacity augmentation is long overdue in the sector beacuse of dearth of capital. He said his ministry is trying to raise funds through non-fare income besides the traditional core revenue options.

The news channel quoted a senior ministry official who said, "Railways is now exploring non-Budget funding options to implement projects, including high-speed trains, rolling stock, station development, and signalling and infrastructure development which was not before." The initiatives are part of the ministry's endeavour to overhaul the way the national transporter works. Among other things, the ministry has decided to merge the Railway Budget with the Union Budget from next year.