Siemens India has bagged a contract with the Indian Railways for the manufacture and maintenance of electric freight locomotives. The contract is for 11 years and involves the production of 1200 high-horsepower electric locomotives and the maintenance of these locomotives for 35 years at the railway factory at Dahod. It is estimated that the contract will cost around INR 26000 crores. The contract is expected to be signed by both parties in the next 30 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the Foundation Stone at Railway’s Factory at Dahod on 20th April 2022. The Dahod unit will be Gujarat’s first and India’s fourth railway manufacturing unit.
The first batch of Proto-type electric locomotives will be delivered in the next two years, says an official statement by the Ministry of Railways. The manufacturing facility of Siemens India, known as Dahod Unit, will be fully operational by then. The company will also maintain the locomotives at four depots of Indian Railways, namely, Kharagpur, Pune, Vishakhapatnam, and Raipur for 35 years using human resources employed by the Indian Railways.
“Suitable economic drivers will ensure complete indigenization of the manufacturing which in turn will lead to the development of ancillary manufacturing units making it a true ‘Make in India’ initiative.”, said Indian Railways in its release. This project will also generate employment opportunities and develop the Dahod region, it further asserted.
The induction of high-horsepower electric freight locomotives into Indian Railways’ fleet ware expected to be used on various sections of the country’s railways, such as the Western DFC and the graded portions. They are designed to improve the speed of container freight trains by up to 75 kmph in a double-stack configuration. The improved operating parameters will also help in increasing the line capacity etc and the locomotives equipped with art IGBT-based propulsion technology will save energy consumption due to regenerative braking technology.
The Indian Railways also aspires to manufacture and supply Standard Gauge locomotives to the export market, says the official release.