Delhi-Meerut RRTS, freight corridor, media stocks, EV batteries

Today, we will talk about two ambitious rail projects which are in the news. One is meant for passengers, and the other dedicated to freight. Both — the Delhi-Meerut RRTS and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor — are unrivalled in scale and spectacle. In our first two segments, we dwell in details into these two projects. Let us start with Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor whose priority section was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. This is India’s first Regional Rapid Transport System. But why wasn’t Indian Railways given responsibility to build it? 

And now, in our special segment, we will explore a massive rail project which is being billed as a highway for goods trains. The 1,337-km long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor is finally complete. The project, running from Punjab to Bihar, was commissioned in 2006. And after a host of delays and cost escalations, it will be operational from November 1. But are there more challenges ahead for this ambitious project? 

Let us now turn our gaze to financial markets. Shares of media companies are on an up run thanks to a pick-up in advertising spending, aided by the ICC World Cup and the coming election season. As stocks remain hot, is it time to binge on the rally? Which stocks find favor with analysts in this space? 

Stocks of companies in the automobile sector are also on a roll. Meanwhile, Japanese automaker Toyota recently said that it would soon start mass-producing next-generation solid-state batteries. If successful, Toyota expects its electric cars powered by solid-state batteries to have a range of 1,200-km on a charging time of 10 minutes. Find out more about evolution of these batteries in this episode of the podcast.