Government officials, industry leaders and experts congregated for the Rail India Conference & Expo 2022 to exchange insights on the strategic developments, technological advancements, challenges and solutions towards the ongoing multi-faceted modernisation of the Indian Railways. The forum largely focussed on key topics including, policies, technological and infrastructure development initiatives including locomotive technology, station development and modernisation, dedicated freight corridors, and PPP or BOOT investment model.

One of the highlighted projects of the Indian Railways is the technology-driven modernisation of infrastructure and rolling stock. Speaking about the latest railway projects and investment plans of the Indian government, Anil Kumar Khandelwal, Principal Executive Director (Gati Shakti), Railway Board, Ministry of Railways, shared: “Indian Railways is on the path of infrastructure development. We are going ahead in demand to meet the needs of the emerging economy and the logistic requirements of the Indian market. We have privatised our projects and devised ’Mission 3000’ wherein we shall be planning to complete about 40,000 km of new tracks, and 12,000 km of signalling and telecommunication infrastructure. We also aim to complete all electrification by next year. We are also planning to launch 400 new rolling stock and modern train sets for a better passenger experience and procure about 2,000 heavy-duty modern locomotives for heavy haul trades. Plans for the development of 200 railway stations are also in place.”

Sudhendu J Sinha, Adviser, Infrastructure Connectivity – Transport and Electric Mobility, NITI Aayog, who was part of the panel, discussed NITI Aayog's policy support for Indian Railways: “It is evident that if we want to take infrastructure on a huge scale, we cannot depend on the government funds alone. We also need to attract private finances. The PPP schemes and the asset monetisation pipeline which NITI Aayog is driving are some of the stellar initiatives implemented for this cause. In addition, for all the projects that reach out to us, we always try to go in for a PPP model.

We should try to create a virtuous cycle of private finance and the government and public funds so that we are taking it forward together.” The conference proved to be a highly-encouraging platform for railway technology builders and solution providers to pitch their ideas forward.