The Railways Ministry and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) have signed an MoU for developing local digital solutions for railways to reduce its dependence on foreign technology, a top official of the DoT’s research unit said on Monday.
Under the agreement, C-DoT is expected to replace over Rs 2,100 crore of foreign technology gears being used in Indian Railways, a senior government official told PTI.
C-DOT Executive Director Dr RajKumar Upadhyay said that Union Minister for Railways, Communications and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw has asked the organisation to work hard to accelerate the penetration of indigenous technology in the country as well as tap the export market.
He said that the partnership will not only reduce the dependency of Railways on foreign technologies but also mitigate security risks.
“We will be able to develop customized solutions as per Railways’ specific requirements at an affordable cost.
“C-DOT is keen on aligning its indigenous Telecom R&D endeavours with the specific requirements of Indian Railways for meeting the overreaching objectives of national development. This MoU will bring great synergy in meeting specific goals of modernizing & expanding nationwide Railways communication networks through C-DOTs indigenously designed technologies,” Upadhyay said.
He said that under the arrangement C-DOT will bring its R&D expertise in designing indigenous technologies and Indian Railways has its vast network for deploying these solutions.
“This will usher in an all-inclusive growth by achieving synergy as envisioned in Gati Shakti programme launched by the Honourable PM,” Upadhyay said.
Railway Board additional member (telecom) Aruna Singh said that the synergy between C-DOT and Ministry of Railways will help Indian Railways meet the telecom requirement through C-DOTs indigenously designed and developed technologies.
“All this will strengthen the national networks and boost seamless connectivity which will bolster the foundation of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
C-DOT has developed indigenous solutions for LTE and we hope to utilize these solutions for rolling out services for the proposed 4G network for Indian Railways for high-speed mobile communication corridor,” Singh said.
A senior government official, who did not wish to be named, said that it has been a long-pending and strategic need to go for the locally-developed technology.
“C-DoT agreement with Railways will not only provide a boost to make in India but also provide Railways long term stability and support for its communications system. Now Railways can decide its own technology evolution path with the support of the DoT. There will be a significant reduction in financial burden as the communication technology will be from India,” the official said. PTI PRS ANZ MR
