New Delhi: Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, held a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk in June to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas including transport, connectivity, infrastructure, and rare earth metals.

Taking to social media platform X, Vaishnaw shared: “Had a productive meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk. We discussed key areas of collaboration including transport, connectivity, infrastructure, and rare earth metals.” The high-level meeting was held in St. Petersburg.

According to a post from the Consulate General of India in St. Petersburg, Vaishnaw is currently in Russia to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025), which began on June 18 and will run through June 21.

Before travelling to Russia, the Minister inaugurated India’s largest multi-modal automobile cargo terminal at the Maruti Suzuki India Limited plant in Manesar, Haryana, on June 17. The newly launched Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal is expected to significantly enhance logistics efficiency in the automobile sector.

The Manesar plant is now connected to the Patli railway station via a 10-kilometre rail link. This connection forms a key component of the 121.7-kilometre-long Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor, currently under development by the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC).

The rail link construction involved an investment of ?800 crore, with HRIDC contributing ?684 crore and the remainder funded by Maruti Suzuki. With an annual loading capacity of 4.5 lakh automobiles, this facility is now the largest cargo terminal of its kind in India.

During the inauguration, Vaishnaw emphasised the transformation in Indian Railways over the past decade. “Before 2014, the annual railway budget was around Rs 24,000–Rs 25,000 crore. Today, it has risen to Rs 2.5 lakh crore,” he stated.