Domestic Railway Manufacturing: An Overview of India’s Progress to Date and the Future
According to reports, the Indian Railways would likely introduce a production-linked incentive (PLI) program to encourage local manufacture of train components such as wheels, brakes, and transmission systems for Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) and Vande Bharat trains. India currently imports these goods.
The advancements India has achieved in the realm of railroad manufacturing are an often-overlooked part of the evolution of the Indian Railways during the last ten years.
Compared to five years ago, domestic manufacture today fulfills around 85% of total signaling system needs. Telangana received India’s biggest private rail plant in June. With an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, the private rail coach plant has a yearly manufacturing capacity of 500 coaches and 50 locomotives. All varieties of railroad rolling equipment, such as coaches, train sets, locomotives, metro trains, and monorails, will be developed.
By the end of the decade, the government also wants to modernize and carbon-neutralize the railway system. By 2030, there will be a determined push to put semi-high-speed trains like the Vande Bharat on Indian rails. Currently, Vande Bharat trains only run as chair carriages over short distances.
Sleeper coaches for long distance travel are being created in collaboration with international partners. The French rail manufacturer Alstom will produce 100 Vande Bharat sleeper trains with aluminum bodies. Additionally, a joint venture between India and Russia is on track to produce 120 Vande Bharat trains. Separately, the Titagarh Wagons and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) collaboration would produce 80 trains.
It won’t be long until the world starts turning to India for trains given the rate of local manufacture. Mozambique, a nation that has placed a significant wager on Indian railroads, has already received trains from India.
According to the data, the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF), a 65-year-old facility of the Indian Railway, has exported 650 railway coaches, shells, and other parts to nations such as Thailand, Burma, Taiwan, the Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Malaysia, Angola, and Sri Lanka.
India wants to sell its Vande Bharat semi-high-speed trains to nations all over the globe by 2025 or 2026.
