New Delhi: India and France have singed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in the railway sector.
The MoU was signed here on Friday between the Ministry of Railways, Government of India and the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF), the French National Railways, for technical cooperation in the field of railways.
Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal signed the MoU from Indian side and G. Pepy, Chairman and CEO SNCF from the French side. The MoU was signed in the presence visiting French President Francois Hollande.
Four areas of cooperation have been identified in the MoU, including high speed and semi-high speed rail; station renovation and operations; modernisation of current operations and infrastructure and suburban trains.
Under the high-speed cooperation programme, the parties have decided to carry out jointly an ''operations and development'' feasibility project on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed rail. This project will be funded by SNCF with a support from the French Ministry of Finance.
The MoU is valid for a period of five years and is extendable by one year with mutual consent. Specific cooperation projects would be undertaken under the MoU as agreed by both the parties.
ANI
First Published: Saturday, February 16, 2013, 09:12