Bengaluru-based NOVA Control Tecnologix (NOVA), a deep-tech subsidiary of e2E Transportation Infrastructure, on Friday announced its official launch as India’s full-stack Rail Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). NOVA has entered into a strategic partnership with Tata Elxsi to co-develop Kavach 4.0, the next generation of India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Under this collaboration, NOVA will serve as the primary OEM for Kavach 4.0, overseeing manufacturing, testing, and integration, while Tata Elxsi will lead hardware and software design, prototypes, safety certification (in compliance with RDSO standards and SIL4 compliance), and cybersecurity engineering. The announcement was made in Bengaluru in the presence of Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT & Biotechnology, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Karnataka.
In a conversation with ET Digital, Sourajit Mukherjee, Director & CEO, Nova Control Tecnologix, and Vinay Rao, Non-Executive Director & Chairman, e2E Transportation Infrastructure, discussed the evolution of railway technology in India and how the next decade is going to see a massive transformation for Indian Railways. Edited excerpts:
Economic Times (ET): Tell us about Kavach 4.0
Sourajit Mukherjee (SM): Think of Kavach 4.0 as a digital safety shield for trains. Its primary function is to prevent two trains running on the same track from colliding, even in the event of human error. For instance, if a driver passes a signal at danger or exceeds the speed limit, the system automatically applies the brakes. It continuously monitors the train’s speed, location, and signal status—almost like an intelligent co-driver that’s always alert and connected. It ensures the safety of the entire journey through constant real-time monitoring and intervention whenever required.
ET: India’s rail technology has come a long way in the past decade. How has this evolution unfolded, and where does e2E Rail fit into that journey?
SM: Indian Railways is the fourth-largest rail network in the world, with over 130,000 track km—a truly massive system. It carries more than 8 billion passengers every year, which is almost equivalent to the global population. Given this scale and complexity, the rail network had a long-standing legacy infrastructure. About 10-15 years ago, the focus on modernisation wasn’t as strong. But over the last decade, and particularly in the past five to six years, there’s been a major push toward infrastructure development.
Between 2017 and 2023, the emphasis was largely on electrification, an area where e2E Rail also made significant contributions. But since 2020, the focus has shifted toward enhancing speed and safety. These two aspects primarily depend on modern rolling stock and advanced signalling and telecommunication systems.
Traditionally, India has relied heavily on imported signalling technologies. But in the last decade, Indian Railways has been working consistently to develop an indigenous signalling system, a made-in-India technology. If you look globally, countries like Japan, China, and the US, as well as those in Europe, all have their own dedicated signalling systems. India, despite being the fourth-largest network, lacked that until recently.
So, when the first phase of Kavach was rolled out in 2020, it was a milestone for everyone in the signalling field. The system itself is highly sophisticated, integrating multiple subsystems and requiring years of refinement. The OEMs involved were also in a phase of evolution. Now, with Kavach 4.0, the system has matured to be on par with global train control systems. It uses automatic block signalling to improve both train density and frequency, thereby increasing passenger capacity while significantly reducing the risk of accidents.
To put it simply, India’s rail modernisation journey has unfolded in stages—first focusing on electrification, then on rolling stock (as seen with Vande Bharat trains), and now on signalling and safety systems like Kavach and Mission Raftaar.
e2E Rail has been part of this journey at every stage. We began as a design house supporting signalling implementations. In fact, we were the first in India to install a communication-based train control system in the Hyderabad Metro, working alongside an international OEM. That experience gave us valuable insights.
Over time, we evolved from being a partner to becoming a full system integrator—taking complete ownership of projects from start to finish, with those same OEMs now working as our vendors. Today, we’ve reached the next milestone: transforming into an OEM ourselves.
ET: How is e2E leveraging emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in its telecommunication and signalling solutions?
SM: These are critical safety systems we’re talking about—Kavach 4.0 and Automatic Block Signalling, which we are actively working on. For both these technologies, two major components are key— AL/ML, and cybersecurity. These are extremely important aspects, and at e2E Rail and NOVA, we are investing in a very focused way to build strong AI/ML and cybersecurity capabilities into our systems.
There’s a huge amount of data involved in maintaining these critical subsystems. With thousands of trains running daily, the permutations and combinations are enormous. Once this data is digitised, it starts to learn and evolve—that’s where predictive maintenance comes in. One of the components of Kavach is the Network Monitoring and Management System. It continuously monitors the system, and if there’s any diagnostic fault while a train is in operation, it automatically identifies the issue and suggests the corrective steps.
This entire system has been developed in-house and reflects the capability of AI to predict and direct what needs to be done based on previous data and logic patterns.
The second is cybersecurity, where Tata Elxsi has been complementing our work. They bring deep expertise in embedded design and cybersecurity and have been working very closely with us. Here, the goal is not only to prevent hacks but also to ensure data reliability, making sure all data is securely handled across systems, channels, and cloud environments.
Vinay Rao (VR): The Kavach stack being built by Indian Railways is somewhat like what happened on the finance side with India Stack—a combination of UPI and other frameworks that power the country’s entire financial system today. Once all that data was connected, it enabled a wave of intelligent applications and innovations. Similarly, Kavach will serve as a foundational stack for the railways. Once it’s installed and operational, the kind of data it gathers will enable numerous AI and ML applications to be built on top of it, driving intelligent, data-led decision-making.
Right now, we’re essentially laying down the “rails” for future applications that will be powered by this ecosystem.
ET: What are some of the challenges of working in the rail tech industry? Since the Indian Railways is government-run, do you face challenges related to regulations or compliance?
SM: Yes, since the end customer is the government, there are certainly bureaucratic processes— as in other sectors, too. But it’s important to note that railways have always operated differently from other infrastructure segments. It’s a highly controlled environment, much like aerospace, since it falls directly under a specific ministry.
Because of this, there are very stringent regulatory standards that every player in the ecosystem must follow. This is actually a good thing; when over 8 billion passengers travel by train annually, maintaining the highest safety and quality standards is non-negotiable.
Now, given the operational scale and complexity, there are multiple departments involved. At times, the approval processes can take longer. However, in the past 5 to 10 years, there’s been a noticeable shift; things have become far more streamlined and transparent.
Today, all transactions, tenders, and procurement processes are online and traceable end-to-end. Just as digital transformation has reshaped India’s financial sector, the same is happening within the railways.
ET: What’s next for e2E Rail? What are your targets for the next few years?
SM: Our focus ahead is twofold—products and system integration. On the product side, we’ll continue developing advanced technological solutions for signalling and telecommunications. On the integration side, our goal is to scale to a point where, for any signalling or telecom project floated by Indian Railways, e2E Rail becomes the preferred system integrator and solutions provider.
There will be significant capital expenditure and focus on expanding networks and improving speed and safety.
After Kavach 4.0, we’re already working on new products with cutting-edge technology.
We’re also expanding internationally, targeting Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the US, and Africa. Many of these regions still operate with traditional signalling systems, so there’s a strong opportunity to provide our design and product services there in collaboration with partners.
VR: The company’s focus has always been on staying at the cutting edge of technology adoption within railways—whether it’s AI, ML, speed, or safety.
The last five to six years have been phenomenal for the sector. We’re not just seeing discussions; we’re seeing real tenders, large-scale implementations, and close collaboration between private players and railways.
As investors, we’re very confident about e2E Rail’s trajectory. Just as the highways sector underwent massive transformation over the past decade, I believe the next decade belongs to Indian Railways.
In a conversation with ET Digital, Sourajit Mukherjee, Director & CEO, Nova Control Tecnologix, and Vinay Rao, Non-Executive Director & Chairman, e2E Transportation Infrastructure, discussed the evolution of railway technology in India and how the next decade is going to see a massive transformation for Indian Railways. Edited excerpts:
Economic Times (ET): Tell us about Kavach 4.0
Sourajit Mukherjee (SM): Think of Kavach 4.0 as a digital safety shield for trains. Its primary function is to prevent two trains running on the same track from colliding, even in the event of human error. For instance, if a driver passes a signal at danger or exceeds the speed limit, the system automatically applies the brakes. It continuously monitors the train’s speed, location, and signal status—almost like an intelligent co-driver that’s always alert and connected. It ensures the safety of the entire journey through constant real-time monitoring and intervention whenever required.
ET: India’s rail technology has come a long way in the past decade. How has this evolution unfolded, and where does e2E Rail fit into that journey?
SM: Indian Railways is the fourth-largest rail network in the world, with over 130,000 track km—a truly massive system. It carries more than 8 billion passengers every year, which is almost equivalent to the global population. Given this scale and complexity, the rail network had a long-standing legacy infrastructure. About 10-15 years ago, the focus on modernisation wasn’t as strong. But over the last decade, and particularly in the past five to six years, there’s been a major push toward infrastructure development.
Between 2017 and 2023, the emphasis was largely on electrification, an area where e2E Rail also made significant contributions. But since 2020, the focus has shifted toward enhancing speed and safety. These two aspects primarily depend on modern rolling stock and advanced signalling and telecommunication systems.
Traditionally, India has relied heavily on imported signalling technologies. But in the last decade, Indian Railways has been working consistently to develop an indigenous signalling system, a made-in-India technology. If you look globally, countries like Japan, China, and the US, as well as those in Europe, all have their own dedicated signalling systems. India, despite being the fourth-largest network, lacked that until recently.
So, when the first phase of Kavach was rolled out in 2020, it was a milestone for everyone in the signalling field. The system itself is highly sophisticated, integrating multiple subsystems and requiring years of refinement. The OEMs involved were also in a phase of evolution. Now, with Kavach 4.0, the system has matured to be on par with global train control systems. It uses automatic block signalling to improve both train density and frequency, thereby increasing passenger capacity while significantly reducing the risk of accidents.
NOVA will serve as the primary OEM for Kavach 4.0, overseeing manufacturing, testing, and integration, while Tata Elxsi will lead hardware and software design, prototypes, safety certification (in compliance with RDSO standards and SIL4 compliance), and cybersecurity engineering.
e2E Rail has been part of this journey at every stage. We began as a design house supporting signalling implementations. In fact, we were the first in India to install a communication-based train control system in the Hyderabad Metro, working alongside an international OEM. That experience gave us valuable insights.
Over time, we evolved from being a partner to becoming a full system integrator—taking complete ownership of projects from start to finish, with those same OEMs now working as our vendors. Today, we’ve reached the next milestone: transforming into an OEM ourselves.
ET: How is e2E leveraging emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in its telecommunication and signalling solutions?
SM: These are critical safety systems we’re talking about—Kavach 4.0 and Automatic Block Signalling, which we are actively working on. For both these technologies, two major components are key— AL/ML, and cybersecurity. These are extremely important aspects, and at e2E Rail and NOVA, we are investing in a very focused way to build strong AI/ML and cybersecurity capabilities into our systems.
There’s a huge amount of data involved in maintaining these critical subsystems. With thousands of trains running daily, the permutations and combinations are enormous. Once this data is digitised, it starts to learn and evolve—that’s where predictive maintenance comes in. One of the components of Kavach is the Network Monitoring and Management System. It continuously monitors the system, and if there’s any diagnostic fault while a train is in operation, it automatically identifies the issue and suggests the corrective steps.
This entire system has been developed in-house and reflects the capability of AI to predict and direct what needs to be done based on previous data and logic patterns.
The second is cybersecurity, where Tata Elxsi has been complementing our work. They bring deep expertise in embedded design and cybersecurity and have been working very closely with us. Here, the goal is not only to prevent hacks but also to ensure data reliability, making sure all data is securely handled across systems, channels, and cloud environments.
Vinay Rao (VR): The Kavach stack being built by Indian Railways is somewhat like what happened on the finance side with India Stack—a combination of UPI and other frameworks that power the country’s entire financial system today. Once all that data was connected, it enabled a wave of intelligent applications and innovations. Similarly, Kavach will serve as a foundational stack for the railways. Once it’s installed and operational, the kind of data it gathers will enable numerous AI and ML applications to be built on top of it, driving intelligent, data-led decision-making.
Right now, we’re essentially laying down the “rails” for future applications that will be powered by this ecosystem.
ET: What are some of the challenges of working in the rail tech industry? Since the Indian Railways is government-run, do you face challenges related to regulations or compliance?
SM: Yes, since the end customer is the government, there are certainly bureaucratic processes— as in other sectors, too. But it’s important to note that railways have always operated differently from other infrastructure segments. It’s a highly controlled environment, much like aerospace, since it falls directly under a specific ministry.
Because of this, there are very stringent regulatory standards that every player in the ecosystem must follow. This is actually a good thing; when over 8 billion passengers travel by train annually, maintaining the highest safety and quality standards is non-negotiable.
Now, given the operational scale and complexity, there are multiple departments involved. At times, the approval processes can take longer. However, in the past 5 to 10 years, there’s been a noticeable shift; things have become far more streamlined and transparent.
Today, all transactions, tenders, and procurement processes are online and traceable end-to-end. Just as digital transformation has reshaped India’s financial sector, the same is happening within the railways.
ET: What’s next for e2E Rail? What are your targets for the next few years?
SM: Our focus ahead is twofold—products and system integration. On the product side, we’ll continue developing advanced technological solutions for signalling and telecommunications. On the integration side, our goal is to scale to a point where, for any signalling or telecom project floated by Indian Railways, e2E Rail becomes the preferred system integrator and solutions provider.
There will be significant capital expenditure and focus on expanding networks and improving speed and safety.
After Kavach 4.0, we’re already working on new products with cutting-edge technology.
We’re also expanding internationally, targeting Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the US, and Africa. Many of these regions still operate with traditional signalling systems, so there’s a strong opportunity to provide our design and product services there in collaboration with partners.
VR: The company’s focus has always been on staying at the cutting edge of technology adoption within railways—whether it’s AI, ML, speed, or safety.
The last five to six years have been phenomenal for the sector. We’re not just seeing discussions; we’re seeing real tenders, large-scale implementations, and close collaboration between private players and railways.
As investors, we’re very confident about e2E Rail’s trajectory. Just as the highways sector underwent massive transformation over the past decade, I believe the next decade belongs to Indian Railways.
