Indian Railways is on the lookout for hiring senior management officials for the newly-formed National Highway Speed Rail Corp Ltd (NHSRCL). The new organisation is responsible for the implementation of the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
The railways on Tuesday invited applicants for the top four posts in the new establishment.
The posts, which are currently lying vacant, are for the managing director, director (project), director (electrical and systems) and director (finance). The final decision on hiring the officials for these roles rests with a committee, which will be headed by the cabinet secretary, Mint reported.
Indian Railways has introduced a clause for the position of the managing director. The shortlisted candidate will have to sign a contract or a bond of serving a minimum of five-year term. "Such unique provisions have been made because of two reasons. One to attract global talent for the project and secondly the government wants an officer who can give commitment to complete it on time — that is, by 2023-24," a railway official was quoted as saying by the publication.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is expected to get operational in the next six years. The rail fares for the bullet train connecting the two cities are expected to be less than the airfares.
The bullet-train project is estimated to cost about Rs 98,000 crore. The bullet train is expected to cover the distance of 508 kilometres between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in two hours.
It was announced during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to India last year that Japan will provide a soft loan of $12 billion to build India's first bullet train.
