Global companies keen to develop Railways' Gujarat loco facility

Global players including Alstom, Siemens, Hitachi, Stadler Rail, Wabtec and Arco have evinced interest in developing a new locomotive facility for the Indian Railways at an estimated investment of ₹20,000 crore in Dahod, Gujarat. Multiple overseas and local companies participated in the pre-bid consultations for the manufacture and supply of 1,200 electric locomotives of 9,000 horse power (HP) each, said officials.
Domestic companies include state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and private players such as Medha Group, and CG Power and Industrial Solutions, they said.

The trains are to be supplied over an 11-year period from 2023-24 to 2033-34 at the existing rolling stock workshop in Dahod. The workshop was established in 1926 for the periodic overhaul of steam locomotives. It will be upgraded to electric locomotive manufacturing unit with infrastructural improvements.

The proposed facility will manufacture the 1,200 HP electric locomotives for broad gauge for the Indian Railways and the standard gauge for export. These train engines will be utilised across the Indian Railways network for hauling 4,500 tonne load, with average speed of 75 km per hour by a single locomotive.

The technology partner to be selected after this tender will have to upgrade the existing facilities and develop existing ones at the manufacturing site and the nominated government maintenance depots. According to the tender document, the four nominated government depots for maintenance of these locomotives will have a holding capacity of 300 each. The depots are at Kharagpur (West Bengal), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Pune (Maharashtra).

The selected technological partner will have to maintain infrastructure, facilities and equipment installed at the manufacturing unit and government maintenance depots for manufacturing and maintenance purposes.

There will be nil equity participation by the Indian Railways in the project. The Indian Railways has also invited bids for the manufacture and supply of 800 locomotives under a contract worth about ₹30,000 crore. The 12,000 HP electric locomotives are to be supplied over the next 10 years and will be manufactured at Banaras Locomotive Works, Varanasi.