• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Adith Charlie

Mumbai, Oct. 2 Noida-based HCL Infosystems has set up automatic ticket vending machines at 390 locations across the country in a pilot project for the Indian Railways. The $3.1-billion IT solutions firm has developed and deployed kiosks that will help in automating unreserved ticketing, Mr Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems, told Business Line.

These kiosks have been deployed in some of the major centres in Northern Railway, Southern Railway, North Central Railway and South Eastern Railway.

“It is for the first time that the Indian Railways has initiated something on these lines. Post-implementation, HCL Infosystems will also provide maintenance and back-end services for a five-year period,” said Mr Chowdhry. However, the company did not divulge financial details of the engagement.

If the project yields the desired results, the railways could extend the project to the other parts of the country, analysts feel. Indian Railways has embarked on a plan to spend Rs 2,50,000 crore in the 11th Five-year plan for modernisation of infrastructure, technology and customer experience.

“The Indian Railways is all set to be a very large buyer of IT-led services going forward. It has significant plans for upgrading technology in the areas of power management, security, connectivity etc,” said Mr Chowdhry. As on September, HCL Infosystems has close to Rs 1,800 crore of orders in hand for its systems integration practice.

More Stories on : Software | Railways

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line