Bombardier on importance of mass-transit
Indian Railways is set to invest 50 lakh crores in the next 10 years to create a pool of opportunities, a two-ay CII Rail Connect conference was told on 17 July 2019.
Minister of State of Railways, Suresh Angadi, highlighted several interesting developments aimed at modernization of Railways.
“With growing consumerism and a large workforce, Indian Railways needs further investment, private participation and focus on freight transportation,” he told the industry and the various stakeholders at the conference organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“The Government is focusing on market-friendly mechanisms and ease of doing business,” he assured.
Echoing the same vision for growth, Railway Board chairman Vinod Kumar elaborated: “Indian Railways is now gearing up for quantum jump in infrastructure development.”
Freight transportation has been cross-subsidizing passenger transport. There is no lack of demand, but capacity is a constraint due to lack of land clearance and delayed forest clearances, he pointed out.
Under digitalization of railways, one of the many recent initiatives is the introduction of the real-time information system.
A pilot project of GPS installation has been run on 4,000 locomotives, and automated chartering of trains have been started.
N. Sivasailam, Special Secretary, Logistics, Department of Commerce, added: “The logistics’ contribution to GDP stands at 13%, comparable to that of developed nations of 7%-9%.”
Expressing concern on declining trend of the contribution made by Railways, he said: “We need to prioritise freight in rail transportation”.
Sivasailam emphasized that digitization, appropriate utilization of assets, encouraging PPPs, and proper dispute resolution mechanisms will go a long way in streamlining railways and attracting private investors.
“India Railways has set an ambitious target of using over 1,200 MW of solar and wind energy for its energy needs. This shows its commitment to creating an environmentally sustainable railway system with an improved carbon footprint,” said Sachin Bhanushali, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Railways and Director and CEO, Gateway Rail Freight.
“Integration of short, medium and long-term projects is necessary for implementation. Without the success of mass-transit the planet will not survive,” stressed Sudhir Rao, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Railways and Managing Director, Bombardier Transportation India.
He assured that CII will keep assisting Ministry of Railways in mitigating infrastructure challenges in the Indian Railways. fiinews.com
