‘Footprint across the world’: DMRC’s global arm appoints Sanjay Jamuar as first CEO

A DMRC spokesperson said that Jamuar, a former-Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, has experience across Indian Railways, DMRC, and international assignments in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Middle East and Europe. He holds a postgraduate diploma in strategic leadership from UK-based Warwick Business School and has pursued research in Transport Economics at the University of Leeds.

According to the DMRC, Jamuar was also the first employee in the O&M department when he joined the corporation in 1998. “Therefore, coming back to DMRC is like a homecoming for him,” read an official post on X.

“DMIL has the mandate to offer advisory services to other authorities and lenders to help develop, improve and prepare long-term plans for metro and transit systems,” read the statement.

It added, “… The DMIL is now expected to further expand DMRC’s footprint across the world.”

Prior to this appointment, Jamuar served as the Managing Director of Keolis India, the Indian arm of the French public transport operator Keolis Group. Keolis India is a Special Purpose Vehicle formed to provide future Operations and Maintenance services for Pune Metro Line 3.

A DMRC spokesperson had told The Indian Express last year that the need for the global arm was felt at the DMRC’s core focus areas have always been domestic Metro construction and operations, which limited its ability to independently pursue and manage international business ventures. DMIL will ring-fence risks and resources from DMRC’s core operations while also allowing global expansion and collaboration with foreign governments, multilateral agencies, and metro corporations under a distinct corporate and financial framework.

In an interview with The Indian Express in February, DMRC Managing Director Vikas Kumar had said that the major issue DMRC has faced in its international expansion is the precedence given to local firms in other countries.

“The only issue is that overseas markets tend to be somewhat biased towards local companies, and they try to discourage other players. So we plan to enter by partnering with international players, and that is one of the reasons DMIL has been created. Once we get a break in one market, we will be able to capture others,” Kumar had said.

DMRC — already involved as a consultant with the Dhaka Metro project in Bangladesh — said DMIL will leverage DMRC’s technical and operational expertise, which has been used in metro projects across India.

It is also handling crucial O&M contracts for the Chennai, Mumbai and Patna Metro projects and has played the role of the consultant for almost all major Metro projects in India. DMRC has also carried out construction work for Metro projects in Mumbai, Jaipur and Patna.