THE Communist Party of India (CPI) has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reverse the decision to privatise the country’s railways after expressions of interest were sought earlier this week.

The party warned that no sector of the economy was being spared, with coal mines, banks, defence, oil, insurance, electricity, telecom, space and atomic energy all being offered up to the private sector.

Steps have already been taken towards the privatisation of Indian Railways, the world’s fourth-largest network, which the government claims needs overhauling to tackle inefficiency.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Railways asked companies to submit their interest in running passenger trains over 109 routes.  

Under the plan, most staff on affected routes will be employed by private companies with just the driver and guard of each train remaining as Indian Railways’ employees.

“This is the first initiative of private investment for running passenger trains over the Indian Railways network,” the ministry said in a statement.

It hopes to attract investment of about 300 billion rupees ($4 billion) in the network, as Mr Modi desperately seeks sources of private investment to boost India’s flagging economy, which is set to contract for the first time in decades.

Indian Railways, founded in 1853, is currently run by a seven-member board under the authority of the ministry.

Last year, it moved towards opening up the sector by outsourcing a limited number of passenger services to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, a publicly listed but government-owned company.

Private companies are expected to be operating routes by April 2023, with Canada’s Bombardier, France’s Alstom and Spain’s Talgo believed to be among those ready to swoop.

The CPI branded the move “anti-people,” insisting that “railways are for serving the people,” and called for trade-union and popular resistance to the sell-off.