File Photo of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu left for Singapore on Monday to participate in the Infrastructure Finance Summit.
Mr Prabhu will be a key speaker today at the summit, which has been organised by World Bank in association with the Singapore government, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
The rail minister is participating in the event to facilitate sourcing of funds for infrastructure development in India, a cause he has been championing for long.
Mr Prabhu had gone on a week-long visit to Japan and South Korea last month to explore possibilities and avenues of technology cooperation with these countries to achieve the goal of 'zero accident' and acquiring high-speed technology for the railways' ambitious bullet train project.
He has been specially invited to the Singapore meet to share experiences related to the work that Indian Railways is doing for infrastructure financing.
There would be many policy-makers and leading minds in finance at the meet to discuss the latest global initiatives, the approach of institutional investors and other private funders, the opportunities and obstacles that exist on the ground in Asian emerging economies, and the most effective strategies to accelerate progress in the current volatile economic environment.
Indian Railways, for the first time, has set a mammoth plan to invest more than USD 140 billion over the next five years and has been tapping various sources, including institutional lenders, PPP and state JVs to fund infrastructure growth.
Mr Prabhu had proposed that world leaders get together to discuss infrastructure financing even during the G-20 summit, where he had participated as the Prime Minister's Sherpa (Special Representative).