New Delhi: In a bid to give boost to the Indian economy by providing support to the manufacturing sector, Indian Railways invited suppliers from the auto sector to join its rolling stock sector.
Indian Railways is also organising an International Railway Equipment Exhibition 2019 in Gurgaon, which will be followed by an International Railway Conference.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Rajesh Agarwal, Rolling Stock member said, "Maybe there is a slump in the auto sector, the auto suppliers and ancillaries could also start becoming the part of the rolling stock sector. That will also give them an opportunity to diversify."
"As the Centre of gravity for the manufacturing of rolling stock is going to shift to Asia, it has been expected that India will scale up significantly in this sector through IREE," he added.
"Last year, we increased our production in Railway Rolling Stock by close to 1.2 billion US dollars, we've scaled up almost 20-25 percent. This year we are expecting to scale it up to 1.5 billion dollars," he said.
The 13th edition of IRC coinciding with IREE 2019 will be held from 22nd October to 24th October, while focusing on next-generation rail infrastructure, modernisation and mechanization drives as well as the adoption of New practices for railways.
"It will be an event which will carry forward India's growth story with its impact on manufacturing, GDP growth, reducing the logistics cost, increase in employment, and it will have a catalytic effect on other sectors as well," said Rajesh Agarwal.
"This covers, together with the rolling stock, all the aspects that relate to the train, including electrical, signal and telecom, tracks, development. Right now, we are already heralding the industry 4.0 revolution in India. This means we not just scale up our production with the horizontal and vertical integration taking place, it will create a huge job opportunity in India," he added.
Indian Railways has also invited several government ministries who are relevant to this initiative to be an active part of this exercise.
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