IN A major step in direction of enhancing its revenues, Indian Railways is about to start out exporting locomotives to Guinea, a coastal nation in West Africa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the primary locomotive for export, manufactured within the Diesel Locomotive Manufacturing unit at Marhowrah in Bihar’s Saran district on June 20.
PM Modi may even flag off a Vande Bharat practice between Patliputra (Bihar) and Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh). That is the primary time Indian Railways will likely be exporting the locomotive, which can add to its revenues.
A senior official of the Ministry of Railways mentioned the sooner exports had been made within the type of line of credit score, which had been a form of assist for growth initiatives in several international locations. These locomotives had been despatched to international locations like Bangladesh, Mozambique, amongst others.
The official mentioned a complete of 150 locomotives will likely be equipped to Guinea in three years. The Marhowrah manufacturing unit is constructed on a public-private-partnership (PPP) mannequin and is run by the three way partnership of GE Transportation, a part of American firm Wabtec, and Indian Railways.
“The manufacturing unit received the bid in a world tender issued by Guinea. These locomotives will likely be used for freight transportation from iron ore mines of the nation. These are 4,500 horsepower (HP) locomotives. It is going to function many services equivalent to windshield heating for defogging, insulated roof, bathroom, air con and so forth. The rake will likely be connected with the 2 locomotives on either side. So it would even have a Distributed Energy Wi-fi Management System (DPWCS), which can permit the wi-fi management of a number of locomotives in a practice. These locos will carry freight of 8,000 tonnes. Two locomotives collectively will carry the load of 100 wagons with most permissible velocity. It’s anticipated to cowl 1,200 kilometers in 24 hours,” mentioned the official.
In accordance with the contract, the railways will provide a complete of 37 locomotives within the monetary 12 months 2025-26 (FY26), 82 locomotives in FY27 and 31 in FY28.
“The overall contract worth is 411 million {dollars} (Rs 3,533 crore). Which means, the price of one locomotive will likely be 2.74 million greenback or Rs 23.55 crore. Because the manufacturing of railway locomotives in India has elevated to 1,681, surpassing the whole locomotive manufacturing of nations equivalent to the US, Europe, South America, Africa and Australia, the export will give a significant increase to the general income of the railways. For manufacturing of those locomotives, three sorts of tracks — broad gauge, commonplace gauge and Cape gauge — have been laid on the Marhowrah locomotive premises,” mentioned the official.
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The locomotives are geared up with AC propulsion, regenerative braking, microprocessor-based controls and modular structure. Together with this, it’s constructed with emission requirements, hearth detection programs and ergonomic crew cabins with fashionable facilities like fridge, microwave and waterless bathroom system.
“This export positions Marhowrah manufacturing unit as a world hub for locomotive exports, strengthening native employment and technological functionality. It is going to contribute to constructing infrastructure for Guinea’s largest iron ore challenge, deepening India-Africa financial cooperation. In Marhowrah manufacturing unit of Bihar, 285 individuals are straight employed and 1,215 individuals are getting oblique employment,” mentioned the official.
Indian Railways has a complete of 4 loco manufacturing models — Diesel Locomotive Works at Varanasi, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works at Chittaranjan, Diesel Modernisation Works at Patiala and Electrical Loco Meeting and Ancillary Unit at Dankuni.
DLW and DMW had been diesel loco manufacturing models. Nonetheless, they began manufacturing electrical locos from 2016-17 and 2018-19 onwards, respectively. Different two manufacturing models, CLW and ELAAU are manufacturing solely electrical locos.
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Two extra PUs — Marhowra manufacturing unit and one other Greenfield Electrical Loco Manufacturing unit at Madhepura, Bihar — have been constructed on PPP mode, supplying diesel and electrical locos.