Raising the pitch for 'Make in India' initiative, an MoU was signed between IIT-BHU and the Indian Railways on Monday for conducting technological research and developing indigenous raw material for the industry.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by IIT-BHU Director Rajeev Sangal and Advisor Railway Board RK Verma in the presence of Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in Varanasi.

"For better development of Railways, there needs to be huge investment into the sector in coming 5-10 years, and for which we would also require a huge quantity of raw materials.

Such initiatives would help the Railways not to depend on importing the raw materials from foreign countries," Prabhu said.

The minister said that to compete with nations such as China, where there is huge investment into the railways sector, India too needs universities such as BHU and others to research as well as develop indigenous raw material to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of Make in India. He said that there is a need for utilizing railways scraps through recycling.

An investment of about Rs 8.5 lakh crores would be made in the railways sector in next four years for upgradation and expansion of Railway infrastructure and network, he informed. Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, BHU Vice Chancellor GC Tripathi and other senior Railway officials were also present on the occasion.