Tata Steel to manufacture world-class seating systems, interior panels for Vande Bharat Express trains – Details here

Tata Steel is manufacturing the seats and interior panels for India’s indigenous semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express trains. The Jharkhand-based multinational steel-making company will supply the light weight seats for 23 coaches of the blue and white colour train. It will also produce fibre-reinforced polymer composites-based interior panels for 16 coaches of the high-speed train.

On March 23, 2023, in a tweet, the country’s leading steel manufacturing company said, “Under the ‘MakeInIndia’ initiative, we’ve employed fibre reinforced composites to create world-class seating systems & interior solutions for the Vande Bharat Express. A big impact indeed towards India’s progress!” 

The seats with fibre-reinforced polymer composite design have already been used in the Bangalore-Mysore sector.

The Tata Steel has appeared as L1 for the prestigious order. The value of the entire order is Rs 225 crore and has to be supplied in 2023. The company will supply the composite solutions from its partner manufacturing facilities spread across India to Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

The Jamshedpur-based company has already supplied the items for a few of the trains. It will transport the consignment to the national transporter through a rail route. 

Parliamentary panel on Vande Bharat production:-

Earlier this month, the parliamentary standing committee on Railways has expressed concern over the manufacturing of Vande Bharat Express trains. In a report, tabled in both houses of the Parliament,, the committee has advised the Ministry of Railways to escalate the production of the blue and white color trains to meet the target and the aspirations of the rail commuters.

Vande Bharat trains to be manufactured in FY 2023-24:- 

In the financial year 2023-24, the national transporter has planned to manufacture a total of 67 trains or 1,072 coaches. The rakes will be manufactured at its three production units – 46 rakes in ICF, 10.5 in RCF, and 10.5 in MCF.