ET GBS: 'Make in India' is a marathon, not a sprint, says Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu

NEW DELHI: The Railways Ministry is investing billions of dollars to modernise the sector and give a push to the 'Make in India' initiative, which is a "marathon" and not a "sprint", Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

Prabhu said the government is making right investments to make the manufacturing initiative a success story.

'Make in India' "is a mission and not a slogan. We are working on it. I always say that if you are doing a marathon run, do not run as a sprinter," he said here at the ET Global Business Summit.

There are lot of comparative advantages in India for the manufacturing sector and the world situation today favours India, he said.

Talking about modernisation of the railways, he said the ministry has already issued tenders for $7 billion for diesel and electric locomotives.

Besides, the ministry is planning to invest $20 billion to $25 billion for locomotive and coach building factories in West Bengal.

He also said that about 85 per cent of the over $16 billion high speed rail network will be made in India and "the ecosystem which will be developed because of (these investments) will be unimaginable".