The Indian company of Rites is set to take over the operation of the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) on a 25-year lease beginning in September this year.

The Rites company is expected to offload 19 percent of its shares to the public and to remain with 51 percent of shares so as to outsource capital more smoothly through such international funding institutions as the World Bank and the African Development Bank, according to the 25-year concession agreement.

Tanzanian Minister for Infrastructure Basil Mramba explained in Dodoma where the Tanzanian National Assembly is currently in session that the concession negotiations had taken longer than expected as Rites had to wait for a go-ahead from the Indian government that owns it wholly.

Rites now has 35 ongoing projects in 13 countries, mostly in the transportation sector.

TRC is Tanzania's largest transportation enterprise that provides transport services to both domestic goods and cross- border cargo to neighboring Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Source: Xinhua