Alstom has received a Letter of Award from the Ministry of Railways to supply Indian Railways with 800 double section freight electric locomotives with associated long-term maintenance. The total contract is worth above €3 billion. This project includes the set-up of a plant at Madhepura (Bihar state) and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh state) and Nagpur (Maharashtra state). The delivery of the locomotives will spread between 2018 and 2028.
This project, one of the strongest endorsements of the ‘Make in India’ policy of the government, will play a crucial role in boosting the infrastructure development in the country. The 100% Foreign Direct Investment in the railway sector allowed by the Government has provided a renewed push to the Indian mainline railway sector.
“This project, one of the biggest in Alstom’s history, is a breakthrough for our presence in India and demonstrates the success of our global customer proximity strategy. We are extremely proud to be partnering with Indian Railways for this ambitious project which will be a game changer for Indian railway sector” declared Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Executive Vice President, Alstom.
The Prima locomotive for Indian Railways will be 9,000 kW at the wheel rim and will run at a speed up to 120 km/h. This contract positions Alstom as the number one on heavy-haul electric locomotives segment with now over 1,200 double locomotives ordered for the last decade.
Alstom has several sites in India including a signalling, telecoms and train engineering unit in Bangalore, a metro manufacturing facility in Sri City and a traction systems manufacturing unit in Coimbatore. Alstom has strong references in India in the urban segment for cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Jaipur, Chennai, Kochi and Lucknow.
GE got the diesel locomotive contract
The statement of Alstom follows one day after US manufacturer General Electric (GE) announced it 2.6 billion dollar deal to supply 1.000 diesel locomotives to India. GE will invest 200 million dollar in building a new factory in the Marhowra district. From there it will deliver 100 locomotives each year, for a period of ten years.
GE wil built two models: a 4.500 hp and a 6.000 hp diesel-electric freight locomotive, both with GE Evolution engines. The first units are scheduled to be delivered in January 2018. The first 100 locomotives will be imported turnkey or assembled in India using imported kits, the rest must be built in India with mostly Indian content.
Both deals are made possible because the Indian government has allowed ‘foreign direct investments’ (FDI) in the country to spur growth in domestic manufacturing.
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[IN] Alstom and the Indian railways: contract signed for 800 Prima locomotives
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[IN / Expert] Alstom’s twin section Prima for India enters service [video]
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