SKIL took yet another bold initiative and concluded a joint venture with the Ministry of Railways for taking up the conversion of the meter gauge line to broad gauge and extending the same between Surendranagar and Port of Pipavav. Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd. (PRCL) & its associate companies and Ministry of Railways (MoR) for gauge conversion and extension of railway line from Surendranagar to Pipavav. This is a 273 km. railway line project, consisting of 250 km gauge conversion from Rajula to Surendranagar, and 23km of new track from Pipavav to Rajula. This project represents the first public private partnership venture of the Ministry of Railways.

This pioneering project represents a backward integration for GPPL for complete broad gauge rail connectivity between Pipavav and the entire Indian Railways network. This joint venture heralded the public-private partnership model of Railway projects in the country. This project is already operational.

While Ministry of Railways, through Western Railways, is responsible for the operation and management, the costing system is based on the time-tested and well proven “fixed and variable” cost principle. This represents a marked departure from “fully distributed cost” system.

Some of the salient features of the Pipavav Railway project are:

	First ever public private partnership model in the rail sector in India.
	A trend-setter for other similar projects being implemented.
	The concession agreement between PRCL and Ministry of Railways is a benchmark that continues to be used for other similar ventures.
	The Pipavav Rail link uses double-stacked containers, the first such use of double-stacking system of containers anywhere outside the North America. Double-stacked containers are currently in use between Pipavav and Jaipur.