Global players such as Alstom, Siemens, Hitachi, Stadler Rail, Wabtec, and Arco have shown interest in developing a new locomotive facility for the Indian Railways in Dahod, Gujarat, for an estimated investment of 20,000 crores. According to officials, multiple overseas and local companies participated in pre-bid consultations for the manufacture and supply of 1,200 electric locomotives with 9,000 horsepower (HP) each.
Domestic firms include the state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited as well as private players such as Medha Group and CG Power and Industrial Solutions, they said.
The trains will be delivered at Dahod’s existing rolling stock workshop over an 11-year period, from 2023-24 to 2033-34. The workshop was established in 1926 to perform routine maintenance on steam locomotives. With infrastructure improvements, it will be upgraded to an electric locomotive manufacturing unit.
The proposed facility will produce 1200 HP electric locomotives for Indian Railways and standard gauge locomotives for export. These locomotives will be used across the Indian Railway network to haul 4,500 tonnes of loads at an average speed of 75km/h by a single locomotive.
The technology partner chosen in this tender will be responsible for upgrading and developing existing facilities at the manufacturing site and the nominated government maintenance depots. According to the tender document, each of the four nominated government depots for locomotive maintenance will have a holding capacity of 300 locomotives. There are depots in Kharagpur, West Bengal, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and Pune, Maharashtra.
The chosen technological partner will be responsible for the upkeep of infrastructure, facilities, and equipment installed at the manufacturing unit and government maintenance depots for manufacturing and maintenance purposes.
The Indian Railways will have no equity participation in the project. In addition, the Indian Railways has invited bids for the manufacture and supply of 800 locomotives under a contract worth approximately 30,000 crores. The 12,000 HP electric locomotives will be manufactured at Banaras Locomotive Works in Varanasi over the next ten years.
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