> their companies certainly were paid to build railroads for other nations To be precise, the first railways in India were paid for by local British magnates /

> their companies certainly were paid to build railroads for other nations To be precise, the first railways in India were paid for by local British magnates / companies, e.g. to transport materials for other construction projects. From 1849 British companies still paid to build the railways themselves but they were given the land for free and guaranteed a 5% rate of return [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_I...