Bring the Japanese Shinkansen to the land of India

In the product inspection process, differences between Japanese and European standards became clear, allowing us to realize that in India railway had been installed and operated complying with European specifications and standards. This is a legacy of the country’s times under British rule. The current project introduces Japanese technologies and products to such a market in India by virtue of yen loans. This, in a sense, is a wedge driven into India’s railway market, which has relied exclusively on Europe. This trend is clearly indicated by India’s first high-speed railway construction plan. The plan will use the Japanese Shinkansen system to connect Mumbai and Ahmadabad over a distance of approximately 500km taking about two hours. An MOU for this project was signed at a top-level meeting between Japan and India held in December 2015. In September 2017, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Symbolizing “exporting high quality infrastructure,” this project aims to go into commercial operation in 2023, implemented under an All Japan framework with yen loans (covering approx. 80% of the overall construction cost). Backed by a track record of shipping contact wires to the freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, Kato, Hardesh, Kinoshita and other sales staff members are committed to making efforts to win another order. Moreover, in addition to the highspeed railway, the Indian market has many railway construction plans on a waiting list. While major cities are promoting construction of urban rail systems, the country envisions arterial freight railway to flexibly connect between Delhi and Chennai, Chennai and Goa, Kolkata and Chennai, and other big cities. The Sumitomo Electric Group intends to contribute to modernizing India’s railway infrastructure by meeting the country’s robust demand for railway, exploiting the Group’s years of technological experience and expertise.

The railway -related business of the Sumitomo Electric Group is active not only in India but elsewhere abroad too. It has shipped products to railway projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand roughly at the same time as the current project. It should be remembered that for the current Indian project, Sumitomo Electric is producing and shipping contact wires alone. Kato scrutinizes the situation. “Electric wires that Sumitomo Electric can supply to railway projects are not limited to contact wires. The Company has a rich line of products, such as variety of power cables, signaling cables and optical fiber cables for telecommunication, to name but a few. I am exploring the possibility of supplying these products as a package, by which the volume of business should increase significantly. Indeed, we have already successfully supplied our products on a package basis to projects in Thailand and Vietnam. Currently, we are actively making package-based proposals and proactively approaching ASEAN countries, as well as India. I hope that supplying product packages will become a novel standard in our railway-related business.”

The railway-related business of the Sumitomo Electric Group once supported Japan in its own modernization and contributed to the nation’s subsequent rapid economic growth. The Group’s technologies and expertise fostered through these experiences have entered a new phase, substantially contributing to economic growth and improved standards of living in emerging countries. Newly laid railways in which the Sumitomo Electric Group is involved represent the firm steps of its railway business and are tracks that symbolize dependable possibilities leading to the future.