Srinand Jha

INDIA’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has sanctioned six proposals worth Rs 116bn ($US 1.8bn) for track-doubling and electrification works, as well as a new line project, covering the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

INDIA’s Rs 27bn ($US 417m) project to manufacture the first lot of 15 inter-city EMUs under a transfer-of-technology agreement with a foreign partner appears to have hit a roadblock once again, with just the Stadler-Medha consortium emerging as the sole qualified bidder after technical bids were opened on February 6.

Ashwani Lohani, chairman of Indian Railways, talks to Srinand Jha.

INDIA’s prime minister Mr Narendra Modi and the chief minister of Telengana state Mr K Chandrashekhar Rao made an inaugural trip on November 28 to mark the completion of the first 30km section of the Hyderabad metro linking Miyapur with Nagole.

INDIA’s railways minister Mr Piyush Goyal has set a target for the complete electrification of the country’s mainline network within five years, despite Indian Railways’ (IR) commitment to acquire 1000 diesel locomotives from GE, most of which will be built at a new plant at Marhoura in the eastern state of Bihar.

THE first metro train for the Noida – Greater Noida Aqua Line left CRRC Nanjing Puzhen’s plant in China on November 2 on the first leg of its journey to India.