The Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari said that India and Germany are looking for collaboration on projects for improving rail connectivity of Indian ports. According to the minister, the two countries will work together on projects worth Rs one lakh crore being implemented by the Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd (IPRCL). Gadkari held detailed discussions with his German counterpart and Infrastructure Minister Alexander Dobrindt and his delegation in New Delhi, regarding the modalities for such collaboration. Secretary Shipping, Rajive Kumar, Secretary Road Transport & Highways, Sanjay Mitra and other senior officers of the two Ministries were also present. The meeting comes under the backdrop of an MoU signed between IPRCL and the German Railways Deutsche Bahn (DB) for cooperation on modernisation of rail port connectivity and port rail facilities of Indian ports, during the Maritime India Summit earlier this year. For efficient evacuation of cargo from the ports and to reduce logistics cost, last mile rail connectivity of ports is extremely important. IPRCL has been set up specifically to work in this area.