Davos [Switzerland], January 23 (ANI): Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that many countries have shown interest in importing semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains from India.
The minister, who is in Davos as part of India’s delegation for the World Economic Forum meeting, said there is a great interest in investment in India across sectors such as semiconductors, food processing, industrial goods, capital goods and clean energy
“Many countries have shown interest in Vande Bharat,” Vaishnaw told ANI when asked if there were queries for the import of the train manufactured in India.
“And there is one interesting thing that some participants, who are of Indian origin, say that when they were in India, their children say that they want to sit in Vande Bharat,” he added.
Indian Railways launched India’s first indigenous semi-high-speed train Vande Bharat Express and it is regarded as a ‘Make in India’ success story.
The first Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off on February 15, 2019, on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route, running at a speed of 160 kilometres per hour.
During the financial year 2022-23, approximately 31.84 lakh were booked to travel on Vande Bharat trains. The overall occupancy of Vande Bharat trains during this period has been 96.62 per cent.
These trains are equipped with top-tier amenities and advanced safety features, such as Kavach technology, accessible toilets for Divyangjan, and integrated Braille signages.
In India, there are four new types of trains — Vande Bharat Chair Car, Vande Bharat Sleeper, Namo Bharat Train, and Amrit Bharat Train.
“With the constellation of these four trains, the passengers in our country will get good quality services,” Vaishnaw said.
Testing of Vande Bharat Sleeper is almost complete, and the data is being analysed, before the actual production at Integral Coach Factory, the Minister said.
Answering another query, Vaishnaw said MoUs worth about Rs 20 lakh crore have been signed.
“There is a lot of interest in investment from Davos, whether it is semiconductor, food processing, industrial goods, capital goods, clean energy, all are super interest,” he said.
“The kind of MoUs that the CMs have signed, it seems that if the amount is not less, then if we add all the states, then the total amount of Rs 20 lakh crores. Maharashtra had 16 lakh crores, Telangana had 60,000 crores, Andhra also had 2-2.5 lakh crores…overall, it is a very good response,” he said.
He said laptop manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers, server manufacturers, networking equipment manufacturers and telecom equipment manufacturers are among those who want to invest in India.
“Today the entire world is very excited about India’s growth journey. People here wanted to understand Prime Minister Narendra Modiji’s economic thinking. So that was very clearly explained. The fourth pillar structure which Prime Minister Modi has created for economic growth – investment in social, physical, and digital infrastructure. The second pillar is a good focus on manufacturing and innovation. Third is inclusive growth. And fourth is simplification,” he said.
“Everybody appreciated this very structured approach that our Prime Minister has taken and people have a lot of confidence that India will continue to grow at a very steady pace, at a very healthy pace with moderate inflation.”
“So people are now very confident. There were a lot of questions in the previous years but now people are basically asking that we want to come now. You tell us what you want us to invest in. So that approach has totally changed today. And most of our state governments have had very good, very successful MOUs with global companies,” he added.
The Union Minister, who also holds portfolios of Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, said that people look at India as a country which respects IP rights, a country with a stable policy regime, a country which has enormous potential.
“So people look at India from multiple perspectives, not just simply from the incentive perspective,” he said, when asked what incentives is India providing to attract new age investments.
The Annual Meeting 2025 of The World Economic Forum is taking place at Davos-Klosters from January 20 to 24, 2025. India Pavilion at the 55th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, features eight states, each seeking investment opportunities from executives of companies worldwide.
India has sent its largest-ever delegation to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, comprising five union ministers and three state chief ministers. Nearly 100 CEOs and leaders from government, civil society, and the arts are also in attendance at the event.
Cutting across party lines, all Union ministers, Chief Ministers, and other state ministers spoke in one voice to promote India’s growth story at Davos. (ANI)
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