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KUALA LUMPUR: Giving a boost to the India-Malaysia cooperation, the two countries will ink a $1 billion railway contract, which has been bagged by an Indian public sector unit.

The Indian Railways Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, will witness the landmark deal, which will be signed on Friday.

Malaysia awarded IRCON International Ltd to design, construct, commission and maintain the proposed electrified double-track rail at the country's Seremban-Gemas sector.

"It is IRCON's biggest ever project given by a foreign government," Mr Achal Khare, Head, IRCON Malaysia said here today. He said the company had so far completed 12 projects in the country.

IRCON's latest project comes after an earlier Ipoh-Padang Besar project in 2001-2003, for which the Malaysian government had considered the Indian company but later shelved the plan.

The project has since been awarded to another company. The 3.4 billion-ringgit project is expected to be implemented within 48 months of its signing the project.

"Malaysian authorities want one phase to be completed by 17 July 2010 and the remaining by 17 January 2012," Mr Khare said. The award of the project is an important milestone for the India-Malaysia cooperation in the field of railway infrastructure, off icials said.

Mr Lalu Prasad, who arrives here tomorrow, will meet the Malaysian Transport Minister, Mr Ong Tee Keat and later attend the formal signing ceremony awarding the project to IRCON.

During his three-day stay in Malaysia, the minister will also formally inaugurate IRCON International's regional office in Kuala Lumpur and visit the KL Monorail facilities.

The minister will also meet the Indian expatriate at a dinner cum cultural function organised by the 'Bharat Club' and Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia (CIIM). -PTI

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