With an aim to tap growing opportunities in rail infrastructure, Jindal Rail Infrastructure Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Jindal Saw Ltd, is setting up a Rs 350 crore freight wagon manufacturing unit at Baroda.
?The factory will be up and running in the next one-and-a-half years. In the first year of production, we plan to manufacture 2,000 wagons. We will scale it up to 7,000 units by 2012. We will produce wagons of higher axle load in the facility, using aluminium and stainless steel to ensure durability,? said Indresh Batra, managing director, Jindal Saw Ltd. The company is in the process of developing the design of the wagons, which will be later sent to the Railways for approval.
The design will focus on increase in capacity and reducing the weight of wagons, he added. In the first phase, bogies will be imported and wheels will be procured from the Railways? wheel manufacturing unit in Bangalore to produce 2000 units. The facility will have 1,400 employees in this stage.
In the second phase, the casting of the wagons will be done in the facility itself and 4,500 units will be rolled out. By 2012, in the third phase of expansion, the output will be scaled up to 7000 units at a total investment of Rs 1,100 crore. Also the unit will become a fully integrated one, with foundries and a wheel assembly unit. It will have around 5,400 employees by then.
In order to fulfill its manpower requirements, Jindal Saw has adopted ITI Bharuch to introduce rail mechanical courses. On market potential, Batra said, ?Scoring over the others in cost, bulk carrying capacity and safety, rail is the primary mover of logistics. We will see the rail cargo double in the next five years, creating a huge market?.