Indian Railways Will Spend Rs 40,000 Cr To Manufacture 8000 Engines, Coaches In 2021 (Full Details)

In FY20, the Indian Railways successfully manufactured 7,000 locomotives, wagons and coaches. However, this number fell down to about 5000 in FY21 (the current financial year), as the development and production units were shut off for elongated periods due to the pandemic.

Now, the Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal has announced to target manufacturing 8000 locomotives, coaches and wagons in the upcoming FY22, bearing a cost of Rs 40,000 crore. 

In the 3rd edition of ‘Smart Railways Conclave’, organised by FICCI, Goyal expressed his vision on the evolution of Indian Railways.

Lets learn more about this.

Smart Solutions for Transforming Indian Railways

The present government has taken a number of initiatives and steps towards reforming the Indian Railways system, right from improving the efficiencies of freight trains, constructing smart railways stations, to improving the existing online ticket booking platforms, among others.

We have covered in detail each transformation measure taken by the government towards these changes.

In the 3rd edition of  ‘Smart Railways Conclave’, organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Piyush Goyal sought industry collaboration and investment in transforming Railways into a smart organization, on Thursday.

“I want Railways to be a modern, agile, safe, reliable part of the economy and make technology the overarching support system for logistics and transport in both passenger and freight business.”

While speaking of all the opportunities one would witness by partnering with the Government, Goyal indicated a number of smart solutions offered by the industry which have reportedly helped Indian Railways to clear a backlog of 200 infrastructure projects, backlogged for years.

Goyal gave an example of a cargo train operating between Mumbai and Guwahati in just two and a half days, compared to nearly 7 days as per the older schedule.

He added, “It has been a collective effort of industry and Railways which has helped to drive changes like faster speed for freight trains, extensive electrification of tracks to aid in total elimination of diesel ecosystem and shift from single tracks to double tracking.”

IR: Strong Contender for PLI Incentive

AK Chandra, the executive director for mechanical/TC, Railway Board, while speaking on Indian Railways’ plan to seek benefits from the PLI scheme announced by the government for 10 key sectors, says that IR is a strong contender for the PLI incentive.

A source informs that the industry feels that some part of that benefit could come into the railway sector, in areas like specialty steel and components.

This would help IR to compete with roadways which commands the bulk of automobile freight, a sector which has got `57,000-crore PLI incentive.