German participation in port rails

India and Germany will work together on projects worth Rs.1 Lakh Crore being implemented by the Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd (IPRCL) which is specifically set up to build rail connectivity with Indian ports.

The projects were announced during a meeting between Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and the visiting Infrastructure Minister Alexander Dobrindt.

The projects will be implemented under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between IPRCL and the German Railways, Deutsche Bahn (DB) for cooperation on modernization of rail port connectivity and port rail facilities of Indian ports, during the Maritime India Summit earlier this year.

The meeting, held October 14 in New Delhi, agreed to form groups with representatives of IPRCL and DB to identify areas of cooperation and potential projects

The ministers also agreed to identify cost effective new rail technologies for India.

This would help bring in foreign investment and cost effective, environment friendly, innovative technology for the port rail connectivity projects.

Gadkari has also invited Germany to cooperate in the development of inland waterways, including manufacturing of barges.

Among other developments, India has sought Germany’s environment friendly technology for scrapping of old vehicles and for processing of waste.

Gadkari told his German counterpart about India’s regulations for the use of Flex-fuel like ethanol mixed with petrol.

He called on German automobile manufacturers to produce flex-fuel cars for India as it was being produced in Canada and USA. fii-news.com