Press Release

Indian Railways - Carrying the Nation’s Futuristic Development

Indian Railways - Carrying the Nation’s Futuristic DevelopmentThe Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) successfully organised the National Conference on “Future Ready Railways for Viksit Bharat”, bringing together senior policymakers, industry leaders, and sector experts to deliberate on the evolving role of Indian Railways in driving economic growth and logistics transformation. During the conference, ASSOCHAM-ASCELA also presented its knowledge paper titled “Future Ready Railways for Viksit Bharat”, outlining a comprehensive roadmap for strengthening India’s rail freight ecosystem. The report highlights that with rail currently accounting for only ~28-30% of freight movement - significantly lower than global benchmarks - there exists substantial headroom for growth. As India targets 3,000 million tonnes of freight capacity by 2030, the sector is witnessing accelerated transformation driven by initiatives such as Dedicated Freight Corridors and near- complete electrification, enhancing both efficiency and sustainability. The report further emphasises the need to increase rail’s modal share through capacity augmentation, expansion of Dedicated Freight Corridors, enhanced private participation, and improved last-mile connectivity. It also underlines the importance of reducing logistics costs - currently at 7.97% of GDP - by leveraging railways as a more cost-efficient and sustainable mode of transport, critical to strengthening India’s global competitiveness. The conference also featured insightful deliberations under the leadership of Mr. Shyam Sunder Gupta, Principal Executive Director (Infra.), Railway Board, Dr. Surendra Kumar Ahirwar, Executive Director (Traffic Commercial), Railway Board, and Mr. Sanjay Bajpai, Industry Veteran and Advisor, Railways Council, ASSOCHAM, Former ED – CONCOR, Mr. Sushil Nowal, Co- Chair, National Council on Railways, ASSOCHAM, Executive Vice President, JSW Steel Ltd and who emphasised the critical role of railways as a strategic enabler in India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047. Addressing the gathering, Dr. Surendra Kumar Ahirwar highlighted that Indian Railways is undergoing a phase of accelerated transformation, moving beyond incremental progress to a more dynamic, future-ready system. He underscored that railways today serve a dual role- not only as a catalyst for economic development but also as a significant contributor to it through its extensive manufacturing and service ecosystem. He further outlined key pillars driving this transformation, including enhanced safety standards, rapid capacity expansion, process dynamism - for instance in procurement, continuous technology upgradation, shift towards end-to-end logistics solutions with strong first- and last-mile connectivity, transformation in business processes, and AI adoption. However, he highlighted the need of reducing the cost of container production. He also noted that over the past decade, Indian Railways has significantly expanded its infrastructure, adding nearly 31,000 kilometres of track, reflecting a marked acceleration in development. This, coupled with a renewed policy focus and leadership-driven vision, is enabling the sector to move towards a more efficient, responsive, and customer-centric framework. Setting the context for the conference, Mr. Sanjay Bajpai highlighted the ongoing shift in Indian Railways from being a traditional transporter to becoming a key driver of logistics efficiency, industrial competitiveness, and economic expansion. He emphasised that the future of railways lies in strengthening infrastructure capacity, modernising terminals, enhancing connectivity with ports and logistics hubs, and enabling seamless multimodal integration. He further stressed that this transformation is supported by robust infrastructure development, globally competitive manufacturing, progressive regulatory and commercial reforms, and rapid digitalisation. He noted that with freight loading already crossing 1.6 billion tonnes annually, the sector is poised for significant growth, provided it continues to foster private sector participation, simplify processes, and adopt technology-driven solutions such as predictive maintenance, smart signalling, and data-led operations. Mr. Sushil Nowal, Co-Chair National Railways Council, EVP, JSW Steel, highlighted the requirement of efficient and seamless movement. He emphasised the importance of the Dedicated Freight Corridors and underscored the critical importance of electrification of the Indian Railways, which has reached nearly 99%. Furthermore, he highlighted the need for last-mile connectivity, wagon availability, and improvement of steel capacity. Mr. Ranit Rana, AVP, Jindal Stainless Ltd., delivered the vote of thanks and underscored the importance of the Indian Railways as arteries of Indian Economy. Other senior officials including Shri Saurabh Bandopadhyaya, PED/S&T(Dev.), Railways Board, MoR and Mr. Rakesh Kumar Rousan, Executive Director (Business Development), Railway Board, MoR – highlighted the futuristic policies of the Indian Railways, co-existence of Railways and Roads as drivers of traffic & logistics, and critical reforms undertaken in the last decade. The conference concluded with a strong consensus on the need for continued collaboration between government and industry to build a resilient, efficient, and globally competitive railway ecosystem that can serve as the backbone of India’s logistics transformation and economic growth.