Bankruptcy to Billions How the Indian Railways Transformed

by Kumar, Sudhir; Mehrotra, Shagun

• ISBN13: 9780198069072
• ISBN10: 0198069073
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Indian Railways is one of the world's largest state-owned enterprises with around 1.4 million employees, over 63,000 kilometres of network, running around 13,000 trains each day. Bankruptcy to Billions reveals for the first time how the Indian Railways transformed from near bankruptcy to post US$ 6 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) annual cash surplus in 2008. This book is a case study of how the Indian Railways brought a revolutionary change in its infrastructure to script its own success story. Defining and evaluating the conventional policy approach to reform large state-owned enterprises, this book comprehensively analyses Railways' innovative modus operandi that changed its status from a "profit averse" to a "profit oriented" organization. Providing valuable insights into other state-owned enterprises, Bankruptcy to Billions unveils the real story of the transformation of the Indian Railways.

Author Biography

Sudhir Kumar, IAS, was Officer on Special Duty to the Minister of Railways. Kumar's most significant contribution in the recent transformation of the railways was his pioneering work in assisting the minister in crafting a reform strategy for the railways that did not burden the poor consumers. A student of Delhi School of Economics, he belongs to the 1982 Bihar Cadre. Currently he is the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Powers, Government of India.


Shagun Mehrotra is currently pursuing doctoral dissertation at Columbia University, New York. He has done research on infrastructure, economic development, and urban poverty in South-East Asia, China, and India. He has worked with the World Bank, and his advice has been sought for the United Nations Human Development Report (2006) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. viii
Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Preface	p. xvii
Bankruptcy to Billions!	p. 1
Political Economy of Reforms	p. 30
The Market	p. 61
Milking the Cow	p. 85
Service with a Smile	p. 112
Outcomes, Sustainability, and Replication	p. 137
Notes	p. 161
References	p. 173
Glossary	p. 177
Appendices	p. 183
Index	p. 203
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