New Delhi, Nov. 20 -- The Indian Railways remains a strategic sector and it cannot be handed over to private players, former Railway Board Member M. Jamshed said, as he rejected the prospect of railway privatisation in India.

Speaking at Railway Conclave 2.0, organised by the Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) on the theme "Possibilities and Quagmire of Privatisation of Railways," Jamshed on Wednesday said that the debate around privatisation resurfaces repeatedly despite clear policy signals over the years. "Successive ministers: Suresh Prabhu, Piyush Goyal and Ashwini Vaishnaw, have categorically said in Parliament that Indian Railways will not be privatised," he noted.

He emphasised the need to distinguish between privatisation and pr...