We aim to make India a tech export engine: Ashwini Vaishnaw
NEW DELHI : In an extensive interview covering railways, information technology, and telecom, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spelt out the government’s vision on multiple fronts—from making India an export engine of indigenous technologies, to strengthening and expanding the railway network with the right technologies to ensure safe and efficient operations, to ensuring that regulation keeps up with technology and therefore the Digital India Bill, to planning for India to take the lead in 6G where standards are yet to be set. New financial incentives for the components ecosystem may also be considered going forward. Edited excerpts: In every aspect of Railway safety, in the past nine-and-a-half-years, we have invested huge amounts.
Compared to the 2004-14 period, where the accidents on an average used to be more than 150 per year, the number has today come down to 47-50 per year. This is a big reduction. With regard to replacement of tracks, we did 7,000-odd km last year.
We have introduced a practice called Rolling Block system where, like the developed world, we plan 12 weeks ahead for maintenance work. It has brought a fundamental change in our maintenance ability and quality. Regarding manpower, we have given close to 5 lakh employment in the past 9.5 years.
We have done several technological infusions (such as) electronic interlocking of stations, which is one of the most important safety technologies. Interlocking on the entire network would be completed within three years. Then, with regard to our own train collision avoidance system Kavach, we have ramped up to a level where we can do about 2,000km a year now.
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