Institute of Metro & Rail Technology (IMRT), the first of its kind institute in India commenced the first batch of Post Graduate Programme in Metro and Rail Technology in presence of distinguished guests. Shri K. T. Rama Rao Hon'ble Minister for IT & Panchayat Raj, Govt. of Telangana, Dr. Sudhir Krishna, lAS, Ex. Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India, and Shri N.V.S. Reddy, Managing Director, Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd, graced the occasion.
The first batch commences with a total of 17 students from all over India. The one year course has been devised with extensive inputs from the industry. Case -study based learning, individual & group work, industry visits, project work, continual assessments and simulations are part of the curriculum.
Shri K. T. RAMA RAO, Hon'ble Minister for IT & Panchayat Raj, Govt. of Telangana , was quoted saying, "This is a wonderful initiative by IMRT to start the first of its kind course in metro & rail technology. India is an evolving nation and an institute like IMRT to come up at this time to address the skilled labour gap is really the need of the hour. While lakhs of engineering graduates are being produced by hundreds of colleges every year, employability of a vast majority of these engineering graduates is a serious concern. The effort of IMRT to improve the basic engineering skills of engineering graduates and giving them specialised training in Metro & Rail Technology is laudable & I'm absolutely confident that IMRT will set a point for a wonderful future for the nation as well as for the students."
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sudhir Krishna said, "Planned urbanization depends largely on comprehensive spatial planning, driven primarily by efficient, sustainable and inclusive mobility solutions. Metro rail projects have come to be recognized as a very effective driver of the development and management of metro cities. In this scenario, I can see the signs of better days ahead for the country. I appreciate the effort of IMRT in launching the Post Graduate Programme in Metro and Rail Technology which is an effort in the right direction. I compliment IMRT for this achievement and wish the faculty and students tremendous success."
Mr. N.V.S Reddy was quoted saying, "Rail-based Mass Transit system is important for survival, efficiency and competitiveness of a city and the major challenge is building Mass Transit system and that too in PPP model. Hyderabad Metro Rail is world's largest Metro in PPP mode. The challenges faced in Metro and Rail segment was the lack of knowledge and expertise the filed engineers have. With the advent of an institute like IMRT, the engineering students from colleges enrolling into this PGP course will make them industry ready. It also gives me immense pleasure to be associated with an institution which is poised for success by creating a name in the Metro and Rail industry."
Mr. VB Gadgil, MD of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad, Mr. NK Kumar, Cheif General Manager Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, Mr. Bharat Salhotra, MD Alstom Transportation, Mr. C Sankaralingam, Task Force Leader, L&T HMRL and Mr. Emmanuel Kuhn, MD Keolis Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd were some of the special invitees during the event.
The program will be conducted under the guidance of top faculty drawn from India and abroad as well as practicing industry experts. The Institute has inked tie-ups with Universities in USA, Australia, and India, International Railway/Metro Consultants, manufacturers, operators and Metro corporations to bring the most updated courseware and knowledge to the students.
With more than 20 cities in India building a Metro, planned investment in Urban Transit Rail Projects of the order of INR 1 lakh crores and 7500 planned metro km to be laid in the next 15 years, increased coverage of the world's largest railway system to the length and breadth of India, introduction of newer technologies like hi-speed trains, there is a huge demand for skilled manpower. IMRT's PGPMRT hopes to make this dream a reality.
