New Delhi, June 19 : Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Thursday.

The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation in areas such as transport, connectivity, infrastructure, and rare earth metals.

Taking to social media platform X, Vaishnaw said: "Had a productive meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk. We discussed key areas of collaboration including transport, connectivity, infrastructure, and rare earth metals".

The high-level meeting took place in St. Petersburg.

According to a post shared by the Consulate General of India in St. Petersburg, the Union Minister is currently in Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025), which began on June 18 and will continue until June 21.

Before heading to Russia, the Minister inaugurated India's largest multi-modal automobile cargo terminal at the Maruti Suzuki India Limited plant in Manesar, Haryana, on June 17.

The newly inaugurated Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal is expected to significantly boost logistics efficiency for automobile transport.

The Manesar plant is now connected to the Patli railway station via a 10-kilometre rail link.

This link is a key part of the 121.7-kilometre-long Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor, currently being developed by the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC).

An investment of Rs 800 crore has been made for the construction of this 10-kilometre rail link, with the HRIDC contributing Rs 684 crore and the remainder funded by Maruti Suzuki.

With a loading capacity of 4.5 lakh automobiles annually, this is now the largest cargo terminal of its kind in India.

During the inauguration, Vaishnaw emphasised the transformation in Indian Railways over the past decade.

'Before 2014, the annual railway budget was around Rs 24,000'Rs 25,000 crore. Today, it has risen to Rs 2.5 lakh crore,' he stated.

/IANS