Latest News | Bengal Wagon Industry Bets on Railway's Plan to Procure 30,000 Units This Year

Kolkata, Apr 8 (PTI) The Indian Railways' plan to procure 30,000 wagons this year will boost manufacturers of the railway freight vehicle in West Bengal at a time when they are grappling with low capacity utilisation problem, officials said on Friday.

As part of the railways' plan to procure 90,000 wagons in the next three years with an estimated cost of over Rs 35,000 crore, a tender is likely to be floated by June for 30,000 units, they said.

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"This will be the highest-ever order from the Indian Railways. The industry has a capacity of manufacturing 30,000 wagons a year. Bengal is a key player in the sector and the industry will definitely get a boost with such an order. Wagon manufacturers will do some capex (capital expenditure) to meet the requirement.

“We are also planning to produce 3,000 wagons this fiscal as against 1,200 in the previous year," Public sector undertaking Braithwaite & Co chairman and managing director Yatish Kumar said.

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The industry had received a order of a maximum of around 15,000 wagons in the past while the average size could be between 3,000 to 5,000 units per annum, officials said.

Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd, Titagarh Wagons Ltd and Jupiter Wagons are among the major private-sector manufacturers of the railway freight vehicle in the state.

Titagarh Wagons, which is one of the largest players with a capacity of making 8,400 units per annum, is expecting 20,000 wagon supply contracts over the next three years, a company official said.

The government has been focusing on strengthening infrastructure, and over the next few years, Indian Railways is expected to come out with large contracts to upgrade both passenger coaches and wagons.

The national transporter is looking at an incremental growth of around 3-5 per cent every year, the officials said.

Buoyed by the proposed wagon orders, Titagarh Wagons is expecting to double its India operation in the 2022-23 fiscal from Rs 2,500 crore. The company has a major order for Pune metro coaches.

Texmaco Rail, which had orders of 1,400 wagons, is expected to grow significantly in the current fiscal as the Centre's capital expenditure push is likely to boost manufacturers of railway rolling stocks, a company official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)