India conglomerate Larsen & Toubro seeks to develop urban railways in Hanoi

India-based conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T), among the biggest builders and infrastructure developers in the world, seeks to join urban railway projects in Hanoi.

Narayan Vernekar, head of business development-special projects at L&T, made the statement at a Friday meeting with Hanoi Vice Chairman Duong Duc Tuan.

Highlighting L&T’s experiences, the executive said the firm can help Vietnam with technology and workforce training.

L&T is willing to cooperate with Vietnamese partners to help Vietnam become independent in developing traffic infrastructure, he highlighted. The firm is also interested in joining other urban railway projects in Vietnam, the executive said.

Backing L&T’s suggestions, Tuan said cooperation between Hanoi and the Indian conglomerate is in line with Vietnam-India partnership and Hanoi’s urban railway development strategy.

The two sides also discussed possible cooperation per the engineering, procurement, and construction – finance (EPC-F) format.

According to Hanoi’s masterplan for 2030 towards 2050, the capital city aims to build 10 urban railways totaling 413 kilometers. The total investment can reach $14.6 billion until 2030 (96.8 km), an additional $22.57 billion from 2031-2035 ($301 km), and an extra $18.25 billion from 2026-2045 (200.7 km).

Hanoi now operates two urban railway lines, namely Cat Linh-Ha Dong in cooperation with China, and Nhon-Hanoi gas station in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The city is building the Nam Thang Long-Tran Hung Dao line in cooperation with Japan.