TMS Ep548: Delhi-Meerut RRTS, freight corridor, media stocks, EV batteries

Today we will talk about two ambitious railway projects that are in the news. One is intended for passengers and the other for freight. Both – the Delhi-Meerut RRTS and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor – are unparalleled in scale and spectacle. In our first two segments we will take a closer look at these two projects. Let’s start with the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor, the priority section of which 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 the responsibility to build it?

And now in our special segment we’re going to explore a gigantic railway project billed as a freight train highway. The 1,337 km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor has finally been completed. The project, which runs from Punjab to Bihar, was commissioned in 2006. And after a series of delays and cost escalations, it will be operational from November 1. But are there more challenges ahead for this ambitious project?

Let’s now turn our attention to the financial markets. Shares of media companies are rising thanks to a rise in advertising spend, helped by the ICC World Cup and the upcoming election season. With stocks still hot, is it time to join the rally? Which stocks are favored by analysts in this area?

The shares of companies in the automotive sector are also doing well. Meanwhile, Japanese automaker Toyota recently said it would soon begin mass production of next-generation solid-state batteries. If successful, Toyota expects its electric cars, powered by solid-state batteries, to have a range of 750 miles on a 10-minute charge. Read more about the evolution of these batteries in this episode of the podcast.