Indian Railways can create one million jobs in a year: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal on Thursday pointed out that the Indian Railways has the capability of creating one million jobs in a year, despite already being the country's biggest employer.

He made the remark at the World Economic Forum’s India summit here.

“We have the potential to create no less than a million jobs around railways if we can provide an enabling environment,” said Goyal.

Giving an example, he said, “There are 2,000 railway stations that don’t have a booking office. So, rather than having a ticketing office, why not encourage a local entrepreneur from the village to book tickets and earn a commission.”

Telling about the key hurdle in the way, he said, "The problem is that the system is slow, causing delays and reducing focus on costs and efficiency. As a result, investments are not as much as desired."

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The minister also emphasised on changing the mindset to get the transformative results.

“The investments in the pipeline can alone create thousands of jobs. We can also monetise our real estate. That will also create many opportunities,” Goyal said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should provide a helping hand in restarting the stalled projects by creating a framework for re-launching them, Goyal added.