The defense PSU BEML Ltd has bagged Rs 1,672.50 core worth order from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) for supply of 150 metro coaches.

BEML and its consortium comprising Mitsubhishi and Japan-based Melco along with the Korean rolling stock major Rotem has bagged the order, said VRS Natarajan, chairman and managing director of BEML.

Terming this as the single largest order ever bagged by the company, Natarajan said the company will deliver the coaches between October 2010 and December 2012. The coaches will be manufactured at the company?s Bangalore complex, he said.

The major factor for bagging the order after negotiation with BMRCL was that the Karnataka government has given VAT exemption for metro coaches produced in the state.

Earlier, BMRCL has short-listed four rolling stock giants including Alastom and BEML to design, manufacture and supply metro coaches. In the final rounds, BEML won the order beating global coach building firm Alastom.

In addition, he said the company expect to get an additional order worth Rs 600 crore for 63 metro coaches for further extension of proposed metro lines in Bangalore city.

BEML is betting big on the local and international rail market. The company has indigenously developed low-cost metro coaches at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore per coach to facilitate tier-II and tier-III cities for the implementation of mass rapid transport system (MRTP). BEML is working with a Chinese company and other global suppliers and is hopeful of getting some pilot orders for these R&D products.

BEML is also pursuing to set up a ?National R&D Centre of Excellence? for metro rail products with central government grant of Rs 125 crore while BEML will contribute Rs 9 crore. Already, he said the company received global enquiries from the countries like the Philippines for its metro coaches.

BEML?s rail order touches Rs 3,800 cr

The order related to rail projects including Delhi Metro and Bangalore Metro has increased to Rs 3,800 crore. The company?s supply orders from the Indian railway alone will touch Rs 662 crore by the end of March this year, said P Dwarakanath, director (Rail & Metro) of BEML said. He said the company will supply 430 second class coaches to the Indian railway while another 230 coaches will be supplied during the next year. In addition, the company is all set to bag an order to supply another 450-500 second class coaches.