Siemens signs Rs 26,000 crore contract with Indian Railways for electric locomotives; details here

A Rs 26,000 crore contract has been signed by German engineering company Siemens with the Indian Railways to supply and service freight trains in India. Coming as a major push to the Make in India initiative, the firm is going to manufacture 1,200 electric locomotives, amounting to Rs 26,000 crore, in Dahod, Gujarat. As per the contract, Siemens is going to make 9000-horsepower (HP) locomotives for the railways. According to the German firm, this is the single biggest order in India. The Siemens-designed trains are going to be shipped to India from 2023-24 to 2033-34. Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens stated that this contract is a crucial milestone in the Indian Railways’ rail electrification mission. He added, “We are honoured to build these in India while using the modern technology provided by Siemens Mobility.” The production is going to be increased to 100 locomotives per annum in the fifth and sixth year. After this, 160 locomotives will be manufactured per year for five years till 2033-34. There are four places where the maintenance of the locomotives will be done- Raipur, Kharagpur, Visakhapatnam, and Pune. The Indian Railways will be responsible for the assembly and maintenance. The locomotives will be used for heavy transport in the upcoming years. The locomotives are particularly built for haul loads of 4,500 tons with a maximum speed of 120 km/hr. According to the firm, the locomotives are going to be equipped with advanced propulsion systems that are also manufactured locally in Siemens Mobility factories in India. The Siemens Mobility will utilise the power of Railigent platform to deliver highest performance and availability. According to Roland Busch, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Siemens, the contract will enable India to acquire its ambitious goal of creating the world’s largest green rail network. Roland further said, “Our locomotives will save more than 800 million tons of CO2 emissions over their lifecycle.” Siemens became the lowest bidder for the project in December 2022. The tender for manufacturing and maintenance of 9,000 HP electric locomotives was floated by the Indian Railways in April last year. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.