India is in the process of modernizing at least 400 of its railway station with the help of private enterprise over the next few years and will focus on safety and use of clean energy to develop the railway network in India. Delivering the keynote address at the 'Middle East Rail 2017' conference, Railway Minister highlighted the future roadmap of Indian Railways and the investment opportunities available. Mr Suresh Prabhu said that Railway has been a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for economic and social development and the government is committed to spend around 142 billion US Dollar over the next 5 years in modernization and improving the safety of the Indian Rails. He also said that the Indian Government is focusing on increasing the speed of the railway network in the identified sector especially the trains connecting the metro towns of India. Sixteen billion dollars, the minister said was being spent on the safety aspect which includes track laying, track maintenance, predictive and preventive maintenance. Mr Prabhu also spoke of the effort being made to use renewable sources of energy on the Indian trains. On the sidelines of the Conference , the Railway Minister met Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and the ruler of Dubai for bilateral discussions.<br/><br/>He met prominent UAE investors and businessmen in a Round Table on the sidelines of the conference and also visited Dubai Ports World and met its Chairman. Minister also had discussions with Indian community and prominent Indian businessmen in both, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. During the three day visit, Railway Minister met H.H Sheikh Mansour and discussed efforts to expand mutual trade and economic opportunities, with special focus on inviting UAE investments into infrastructure development in India including Railways. The Minister also met H.H Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman, Office of The Crown Prince Court, Member of the Supreme Petroleum Council, Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority where he discussed specific investment opportunities in Indian Railways and Indian Railways Station Development project. Earlier, Minister met H.H Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development and discussed efforts at expanding and deepening the existing people-to-people cooperation between the two countries. <br/>Railway Minister also had meeting with H.E Dr.Abdullah Bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development and discussed ongoing economic and commercial cooperation including investments in infrastructure sector in priority areas including railways, roads, power, ports, shipping and logistics. He also met CEO of the newly formed Mubadala Investment Company Mr.Khaldoon Al Mubarak and its senior management at Abu Dhabi.<br/><br/>The Minister toured Masdar City and met with the senior anagement of Masdar, where they discussed possible cooperation in efforts by Indian Railways to promote Renewable Energy and energy efficiency. The Minister was accompanied by a high level team of officials from Indian Railways and they had detailed discussions with the team from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority on the various Railway projects and proposals. The team also briefed prominent Indian entrepreneurs on these. The Minister will head back to New Delhi tomorrow morning .