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Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve, Hon'ble Minister Of State - Railway, Coal & Mines, Government of India, on Tuesday shared the current mega initiatives being focused upon by Indian Railways to increase its revenue & provide a thrust to its future growth plan.



Addressing the industry at the 8th PHD GLOBAL RAIL CONVENTION-2021 –themed “Future Railway Infrastructure Growth Blueprint” under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hon’ble Minister shared that High-Speed Railway System & Dedicated Freight Corridors are the key focus projects, which are being given major importance for the future growth and development of Indian Railways. While sharing his pleasure to be a part of the Convention, he also acknowledged immense contribution of Indian Railways during the Pandemic lockdown to ensure constant transportation of essential goods, food grains & oxygen across India.



Prioritizing of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) projects –both Eastern & Western sectors is the current focus, which will lead to faster transportation of goods and reduce logistic cost, while improving faster supply chain efficiency, emphasized the minster. He also shared that adoption of Modern Technologies, like Interlocking & TCAS systems are also being given major importance & opined that expansion & modernization of the Indian Rail Infrastructure will be instrumental to achieve the envisaged future growth of Indian Railways.



Shri Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve also shared that under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minster of India, a policy to monetize specific railway assets is also in the pipeline. Railway stations & Railway stadiums re-development, DFCCIL & passenger train operations are some sectors being included in this policy. Hon’ble Minister shared that these initiatives would increase the revenue of railways & DFCC would further bring down the logistics cost for the rail freight industry, boost the freight traffic, develop infrastructure, and open private investments & would further enhance the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat-Make In India” initiatives of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.



Hon'ble Minister Of State - Railway, Coal & Mines, Government of India, concluded by complimenting PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry in bringing together the industry on one platform to address their issues.



Speaking on the occasion Mr. R. N Singh, Secretary & Principal Executive Director, Infrastructure, Railway Board, Ministry of Railways, shared details of the National Rail Plan of Indian Railways, with a primary objective of increasing capacity ahead of demand and increase the rail freight share, while also sharing specific details of the rail infrastructure projects focussed on rail network & capacity enhancement; modernization & digitalization of core assets like tracks, signalling, electrification, railway stations, rolling stick & locomotives & other technological upgrades like the TCAS (Train Collision Avoidance System) and much more.



IR has formulated very ambitious investment policies like the National Infrastructure pipeline, assets monetization policies, which are game changer, said Mr Singh. He also shared that policy of 100% FDI being allowed in rail infra will attract investment & latest technologies. He further emphasised that projects like the DFCCIL projects are on their advanced stage of completion, with RORO services & double stack container also being started. Survey & DPR for new DFC will further enhance faster & overall connectivity.



Mr R N Singh concluded by inviting PHD Chamber to collaborate in its growth initiatives and shared that Indian Railways is open to Private investment & partnerships & is in the process of revamping its PPP models.



Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHDCCI while sharing the contribution of PHD Chamber during the pandemic, opined that completion of the critical mega rail infrastructure projects like the Dedicated Freight Corridors, Indian Railway Station re-development, National High Speed Rail project, Modernization, Electrification & Digitalization projects & other Passenger Amenities up-gradation projects with opportunities for private investment are of par importance in these challenging times. He also shared that the recently announce “Gati Shakti” project will be a game changer and the industry looks forward to being a part of the Rail Growth story.



CMA Biswarup Basu, President, ICMAI shared the main pointers from the Knowledge Report prepared by ICAI & PHD jointly.



Mr. S.K Lohia, MD, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation – IRSDC; Mr. V. G. Suresh Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director (Addl. Charge) & Director Projects, RITES Ltd & Mr. Ved Prakash Dudedja, Vice Chairman, Rail Land Development Authority-RLDA shared their organisations projects & perspectives and were of the opinion that a collaborative approach with private investment will be a major driving force in the development of Indian Railways.



Presentations by Mr. Nanduri Srinivas , Dir OP & BD, DFCCIL on Business Opportunities in DFCCIL & Mr Anshul Gupta, General Manager, North East Frontier Railway on NFR projects were also shared , while the ensuing panel discussions saw presentations & recommendations from various Industry experts.



Dr. S.K. Chaudhary, Chair- PHD Railways Committee, shared the industry perspective to set the theme for the further discussions for the convention, while Mr Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHDCCI gave the formal Vote of Thanks for the Inaugural Session, moderated by Dr Jatinder Singh, Director, PHDCCI.



PHDCCI’s Rail Convention was supported by the Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., Railtel Corporation Ltd, Funkwerk, Germany, Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd & Laraon Engineers and received participation from senior government officials, key professionals from the ministry of railways, industry experts, diplomats & all relevant stakeholders.



It was also supported by Annual Sponsors DLF India; Multani Pharmaceuticals; UFLEX; JK Tyre & Industries; Marble City; Paramount Cables; SMC Investments and Advisors; Blossom Kochhar Aroma Magic; Comtech Interio; DCM Shriram Industries; Radico Khaitan; R.E. Rogers India; Ajit Industries; Synergy Environics; Continental Carriers PVT LTD; Timberworkz; Easy Trip Planners Limited; Jindal Stainless; Modern Automobiles; P S Bedi & Co; IFFCO and Hindware.