Defence Minister unveils India's first indigenously developed Driverless metro car

Defence Minister Rajnath Singhon Friday unveiled the country's first indigenously designedand developed Driverless Metro Car at the BEML manufacturingfacility here.

The Minister, who visited the facility, said he wasproud of the good work the team of engineers and techniciansare doing at the city-headquartered BEML, a company under theDefence Ministry.

''They are the real warriors of Atmanirbhar Bharat,taking India ahead'', he said.

According to BEML, the state-of-the-art driverless metrocars, being manufactured at it's facility here housing theRail and Metro Division, are made up of a stainless-steel bodywith a capacity of carrying 2,280 passengers in six-cars Metrotrain-set.

BEML bagged a total order of 576 cars for the MumbaiMetropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)'s MRS1project, and the supply is scheduled progressively up toJanuary 2024.

Singh said MMRDA project has 63 per cent indigenouscontent which will enhance to 75 per cent in next two to threeyears.

This reflects Indian Industrys overwhelming response toPrime Minister Narendra Modis ''Atmanairbhar Bharat Abhiyancall, he said.

The Minister said this driver-less metro project willact as a source of inspiration to other Indian companies,particularly the defence industry to help the country emergeas a manufacturing hub which, in turn, will fulfil the USDfive billion defence export target and USD 25 billion defenceindustry turn-over by 2025.

Singh expressed hope that MMRDA driver-less technologywill lead to its expansion into other fields of defence suchas tanks and fighter planes in the future.

BEML recently opened its Depot office at Charkop MetroDepot, MMRDA, Mumbai for commissioning, testing and round-the-clock services for Driverless Metro cars.

Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar and BEMLLimited Chairman and Managing Director, Deepak Kumar Hota,were among those present on the occasion.

Hota said,''BEMLs foray into metro manufacturing hasbeen a defining moment in the urban transportation scenario inIndia''.

Singh virtually launched the Aerospace Assembly Hangar,situated within BEMLs complex here, and unveiled the firstindigenously manufactured Tatra Cabin by the company.

He inspected the Rail Hangars, the array of BEMLequipment on display (from its Defence & Aerospace, Mining &Construction and Rail & Metro Divisions) and the newlylaunched Industrial Design Centre.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)