Kernex Microsystems Ltd has bagged a $17.5 million order from the Egyptian National Railways for supply and development of 136 semi-automatic level crossings and is negotiating additional provisions of 174 gates.

Speaking on the occasion, LV Raju, MD said that the company won the bid against stiff competition from global companies. The company is opening an office in Cairo for exceution of the contract. Apart from 174 gates, it is also negotiating for 310 gates more for an estimated cost of $40 million.

With this contract in place, the company has started receiving enquiries from Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, Kazakistan and Southern Russia for supply of safety solutions.

Further, the company is also planning to introduce multi-station digital axel counters, which proves the integrity of tracks between two stations and solid state inter locking systems. The company has tied up with Croatia-based Altpro and the first indigenous product is expected to be rolled out in the next two to three years.

The company is also in talks with international companies to bring newer technologies for rail safety and operations and is targeting revenues of Rs 600 crore in the next three to four years. It is working on semi-automatic and automatic level crossing gates and the technology transfer is expected to come through a German-based company.

Meanwhile, Kernex has also received an in-principle approval to implement anti-collisionsdevices (ACDs) from the Indian Railways. This approval would include for South Central, Southern and South Western Railway zones. Having completed pilot projects for Konkan and North Frontier railways, the order size is estimated to be about Rs 360 crore.

Towards this, the company is also mulling expanding its capacity from the 10,000 to 15,000 ACDs in a year. A new R&D centre is being proposed at a cost of Rs 40 crore Targeting revenues of Rs 150 crore from the present Rs 30 crore, Kernex R&D is busy working on railway safety and operations such as predictable way for accidents, conversion of manned to unmanned and many more.