Rail Ministry exudes confidence in Indian export, highlights fast recovery after COVID-19

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday said that exports from India are on fast recovery after witnessing a sharp downturn due to the COVID-19 crisis. This statement comes after Indian exports fell by 60 per cent in April and by 35 per cent in May. He added that He said the railway freight movement will recover fully by July

"As of now in June, our exports are down by only 10 to 12 per cent. So our exports are recovering very fast," said Goyal while speaking at the CII's 12th Horasis India Meeting.

"From August and September, we will start to see growth in freight movement. The Railways is also trying to double the average speed of freight trains," he added.

Goyal, who also holds the Railways portfolio, said that 7.5 million migrants moved to their homes during the lockdown period. Now 4,553 trains are running to move them back to the cities. "We have also started 230 regular trains for the movement of passengers," he said. The Minister urged the private sector to come forward as the government is ready to allocate new routes. Goyal also clarified to the world leaders that the government's Aatma Nirbhar Bharat initiative does not mean shutting the door on foreign investments.

READ: Railways’ freight earning picks up, registers more than 90% loading till June 17: Official

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Rail Ministry eases Procurement norms 

Earlier on Sunday, in a bid to enhance transparency, efficiency and ease of doing business, Indian Railways has taken one more important step to ease the procurement system in the network. As per extant procurement norms of Indian Railways, identified Safety and Critical items where quality is of paramount importance, are procured from Vendors approved by its nominated vendor approving agencies for the item.

Recently, the decision has been taken that a Vendor, approved for an item by any of the Vendor Approving Agency of Indian Railways shall be considered as an Approved vendor by all Railway Units for that particular item. This decision shall not only save the time and effort of vendors significantly doing away with the need of approaching multiple vendors approving agencies for participating in tenders of all Railway units, but also increase the competition in public procurement making it more economical and efficient.

READ: Railways eases norms for vendors

READ: Ministry of Railways to ease procurement norms with the aim to enhance transparency