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In a first, railways floats tender for new plant to make 80,000 train wheels
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav said the plant to make wheels for high-speed wheel such as Vande Bharat will also be required to export them
NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways on Friday floated a tender to set up a plant to annually build at least 80,000 wheels for high-speed trains such as Vande Bharat, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced on Friday.
“For the first time, the railways has aimed to become an exporter from an importer by floating a tender to manufacture wheels under ‘Make In India’,” Vaishnaw said, explaining that the plant was expected to annually deliver at least 80,000 wheels at an estimated cost of ₹600 crore.
“We have been importing forged wheels (used for high-speed trains) since 1960 from European nations. Now, with this plant, India not only will manufacture wheels but also export them to Europe,” Vaishnaw said while addressing the media on Friday.
So far, India has been importing wheels from Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Germany. This dependence on imports threatened to hit the manufacture of Vande Bharat trains due to supply disruptions due to the Ukraine war.
An official of the railways ministry said India currently imports about 70,000 wheels at a cost of around Rs. 70,000 per wheel.
Vaishnaw said the country’s annual demand for wheels due to increasing production of high-speed trains was 2 lakh, out of which the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will provide 1 lakh wheels. The rest will will be provided by the new plant,”
He said the ministry has mandate that the successful firm should also commit to export the wheels. “The tender mandates that the plant has to be set up within 18 months”, Vaishnaw said.
“The ministry aims to complete the tendering process in 45 days and set up the plant by March 2024,” he said, adding that the Indian manufactured wheels will also save “significant” amounts of money.
Additonally, the railways ministry is also planning to come up with ‘Make in India’ track agreement in a month, in which very high-strength tracks too will be manufactured in the country, he said.
Vande Bharat 2 trials completed
Vaishnaw also announced that the Vande Bharat 2 (VB 2) trains completed their trials on Friday. The minister said the VB2 trains will have many new features and will be able to accelerate from 0 to 100 Kmph speed in just 52 seconds It will have a top speed of 180kmph as compared to 160kmph for the first generation Vande Bharat trains.
The new train will have more passenger comfort amenities. It will have a battery backup of three hours, with weight reduced from 430 tonnes to 290 tonnes. The ride index, an indication of riding comfort, has been increased to 3.2.
“Side recliner seat facility which is currently being provided to executive class passengers will now be made available for all classes,” he said.
“In the new design, a photo-catalytic ultraviolet air purification system is installed for air purification. As recommended by Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh, this system is designed and installed at both ends to filter and clean the air to make it free of germs, bacteria, virus,” he added.
The new train will have more passenger comfort amenities. It will have a battery backup of three hours, due to a reduction in the train’s weight from 430 tonnes to 290 tonnes. The ride index, an indication of riding comfort, has been increased to 3.2.
“We will now start its serial production... testing is complete... the target will be that going into October we can start regular production... 2-3 trains every month, then taking it up to 5 and 8,” Vaishnaw said, adding that most of these trains will be manufactured in Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
