We Constantly Strive For Quality And Speed

India's railway infrastructure has seen tremendous improvement thanks to the contribution stated in this interview over the years made by RVNL, as

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Shri Pradeep Gaur CMD, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited

What are the key trends shaping the Indian railway industry?

The Indian railway industry is in the cusp of a massive paradigm shift to become a high-speed, ultra-modern transport organisation, both in freight movement and in passenger travel. This requires adoption of latest cutting-edge technology in passenger comforts and safety, massive changes in strategies, and tools of project execution, and thus building the railway infrastructure. The buzz word is fast track project completion, from conception to commissioning, a concept that RVNL has made its driving strategy for the last many years.

High-speed and semi-high-speed rail corridors are the other trends that have acquired enough critical mass to make it a reality very soon in Indian railways. This calls for huge capex, appropriate policy guidelines for innovative modes of financing, execution and operation. Considering that RVNL has wide experience of execution of projects through capex and also in the SPV mode with financing through a mix of equity and debts, RVNL would enjoy an advantage in this burgeoning opportunity.

Station redevelopment is another idea that has picked up momentum of late, with a clear objective to make stations not just world-class in railway facilities and operations, but to make them the hub of myriad economic activities of the city. The entire cost of station development for A1 and A category stations are planned to be met by leveraging commercial development of vacant separable land and air space in and around the station. Further, large number of metro corridors are getting implemented in the country. This too offers ample scope for RVNL's myriad experience and expertise to be applied for the projects.