Indian Railway Experts Begin Assessment of Fijian Railway Network
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Thursday 01 March 2018 | 12:47
From Left: General Manager Rolling Stock Akhilesh Mishra, High Commissioner of India to Fiji Vishvas Sapkal, General Manager Special Projects Prem Ranjan Kumar, Acting Prime Minister and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Additional General Manager Transport and Economics Srikant Janbandhu, Fiji Sugar Corporation Chief Operating Officer Navin Chandra, Director Policy and Research at Ministry of Sugar Industry Reshmi Kumari and Commerce Officer at the Indian High Commission Sachin Mehta. Photo: DEPTFO News
A team of Indian Railway experts has arrived in Fiji to undertake an assessment of the Fijian railway network and recommend a plan of action for upgrading the network to accommodate greater freight and passenger travel.
The team was dispatched to Fiji by the Indian Ministry of Railways following a meeting between Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and the Indian Minister for Railways, Piyush Goyal, during the World Sustainable Development Summit held in New Delhi, India last month.
The technical team arrived in Fiji on February 27, 2018 and consists of General Manager for Special Projects, Prem Ranjan Kumar, General Manager Rolling Stock, Akilesh Misra, and General Manager for Transport and Economics, Skirkant Kanbandhu.
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Visit to Rarawai Sugar Mill
The technical team has already made a site visit on Tuesday to the Rarawai Sugar Mill in Ba and will continue site visitations throughout the Western Division during the week.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum welcomed the expert team to Fiji at a meeting yesterday in Suva where he stressed the enormous benefits of upgrading railway infrastructure in Fiji.
“Upgrading our railways systems to accommodate greater freight will have an immediate impact for our farmers, including our cane farmers, who will be able to cart more cane, reduce their cartage costs and increase their profit margins.
“And the introduction of passenger travel will open up Fiji in new ways that will benefit tourism, agriculture, transportation and many other sectors of our growing economy. “We are very keen to partner with the Indian Government on this project and look forward to receiving the full recommendation from the technical team following the completion of their assessment,” said the A-G.
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