In a development coming from Indian Railways, the national transporter has awarded a contract to manufacture train wheels to TZ (Taizhong) Hong Kong International Ltd, a Chinese company.
The wheels contract is for use in the Vande Bharat trains, and the development is a result of a slump in the supply of rail wheel companies’ products in India, due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Railways Awards Train Wheels Contract to Chinese Company
In a contract awarded to a Chinese company TZ (Taizhong) Hong Kong International by the Indian Railways, the company will have to supply 39,000 train wheels, as deliveries from suppliers of other countries have been impacted due to the persisting Russia-Ukraine war.
“These wheels are for the Vande Bharat trains. This development can be seen as a fall out of the Russia-Ukraine crisis as there is a dearth of rail wheel suppliers to India,” said a senior official of the railway ministry.
The move comes in view of significance because of the restrictions that New Delhi imposed in July, 2021, on investments and supplies from companies from countries sharing land border with India following the Galwan valley standoff with China.
Moreover, this is not the first time TZ is being awarded a contract by the Indian government, as the last tender was awarded to the Chinese company in March 2020.
This wheels tender was opened on April 4, 2022 and TZ was finalized and awarded the contract by the Ministry of Railways on May 2.
Regarding TZ, the Railway Board’s order states the manufacturing place for these wheels to be Taiyuan Heavy Industry Railway Transit Equipment Company at Dianzi Street in Taiyuan City, Shanxi, China, cited an ET report.
Also, as per TZ’s website, it is a state-owned oversize backbone enterprise, with links to the Government of China.