Lalu wants to make Indian Railway number one in the world

Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said that his vision was to make Indian railways the number one in the world, raising it from its current position of number three.

New Delhi, May 1 : Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said that his vision was to make Indian railways the number one in the world, raising it from its current position of number three.

"Our vision now is to make Indian railways the number one railways in the world, raising it from its current position of number three," Lalu told reporters.

Using his trademark rustic charm, he gave a birds eye view of the Indian Railways to visiting delegation of American professionals and US National Defence Academy.

"I told the delegates how we improved the dwindling Indian Railways and earned a surplus of 200 billion rupees," he said.

The delegates, some of whom have undertaken a case study of the Indian Railway's turnaround, found their interaction with the rustic minister quite interesting.

"I think he is becoming quite known. There are business schools in the United States that are doing study on the Indian transformation. I am doing a case study on the turnaround that is essentially the background," said United States National Defence Academy Professor Davis Blaire.

Lalu, who took over as the Railways Minister in May 2004, is credited with earning a revenue surplus of 130 billion rupees by March 31, 2006.

Top business schools in India and abroad are reportedly studying his initiative in magically transforming the railways.

The Indian Railways is a 154-year-old mammoth transport lifeline of the country, employing thousands of people to oversee the movement of trains across 63,000 railway lines in the country.

Lalu had earlier addressed students from the Harvard, Wharton, Texas and Virginia Universities, besides students of the Indian Institute of Management.

ANI