New Delhi, March 11 (IANS): In line with the the funding programme outlined in last month's Railway budget, state-run Life Insurance Corp (LIC) on Wednesday committed Rs.150,000 crore to Indian Railways for development of various commercially viable projects.

"LIC has taken the task of supporting Indian Railways. It is a commercial decision. LIC will invest Rs.1.5 lakh crore over a period of five years," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here after signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the finance and railway ministries.

The investment would be done in bonds issued by various railway entities such Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), beginning next fiscal.

The railway ministry described it as "one of the largest funding for the Indian Railways" and "yet another fulfilment of the railway budget's commitment".

Following his presentation of the Railway budget for 2015-16, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had said that in view of the difficult fiscal situation, the Railways had lower expectation of union budgetary support.