Chennai, Mar 5 (IANS): Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Saturday said that talks between India and top companies in the world to introduce trains that can speed over 350 km per hour have reached an advanced stage.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Prabhu said talks are being held with six global companies with necessary technology.

Earlier addressing the Tamil Nadu State Annual Meeting and Tamil Nadu Business Leaders' Conference organised by CII on 'Decoding Tamil Nadu - The way forward', he said Railways is planning to save around Rs 41,000 crore through energy savings.

Besides being committed to raise Rs 66,000 crore to meet the developmental works, Prabhu said the railways sector will earn a revenue of Rs 17,000 crore through non-traditional sources over the next decade.

The ministry is working to find funds for development through joint ventures and also has drawn a business plan for 2017-18 to increase its revenues, the minister said.

Huge investments are focused on ensuring safety, upgrading technology, and enhancing speed and comfort of rail users, he added.