Foreign firms to develop train tech in India: Suresh Prabhu

Railway Minister Suresh P Prabhu on Thursday said that the government has asked global railways' innovators to develop their latest technologies in India.

He was speaking at the the All India Management Association's national management convention.

According to Prabhu, six top technology developers, who had attended a railway meet in New Delhi, have expressed interest in developing their upcoming technologies in India.

The minister said that being a late mover in technology space can benefit the country as it can directly move on to latest technologies, including the hyperloop.

Besides, Prabhu called for an increase in speed of trains and operations.

"The speed of trains needs to be increased," Prabhu said, adding that there was a need to increase the speed of operations as well.

By the end of this year, he said, the time taken between budgeting and tender will be brought down to six months from two years.

Prabhu said the Indian Railways is going to use new technologies in every area from ticketing to emergency response, to make railways smarter and faster.

"This is the Asian century and it could be India's century if the country can be cleaner, smarter, faster," he said.