Bombardier, Indian Railways in loco tie-up

The $7.6-billion Canadian transport solutions major Bombardier Transportation may partner Indian Railways to produce electronic freight locomotives in the country for the proposed Rs 22,000-crore dedicated freight corridors on the eastern and western routes. Senior executives of Bombardier Transportation have met Indian Railways’ officials for exploring the option of setting up a greenfield electronic freight locomotive manufacturing facility and an assembling unit in India. Sources close to the development said Indian Railways would also pick up a stake in the manufacturing facility. According to industry analysts, Indian Railways will need at least 500-600 electronic freight locomotives, besides the same number of diesel locomotives for dedicated freight corridors in the first phase.

"Conservative estimates for a normal locomotive are between Rs 13 crore and Rs 15 crore. The investment required for manufacturing electronic freight locomotives is around Rs 10,000 crore,” they added. Bombardier President, Transportation, Andre Navarri confirmed talks with Indian Railways, adding, “We are keen to take part in the dedicated freight corridor project, but the nature of the agreement with the Indian government is yet to be finalised.”

Indian Railways will come up with a detailed plan and tenders for the proposed corridor by mid-November. Bombardier produces innovative transportation solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment. Bombardier President and Managing Director for India (Transportation) Rajeev Jyothi said the company was planning to bid for the second phase of the Delhi Metro rail project and rail link to the Commonwealth Games Village. “We are also looking at opportunities for creating a rail link to the Delhi international airport, which can cut short travel time by at least 35 minutes,” Jyothi said. Bombardier had tied up with the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Energy to bid for the Rs 6,000 crore Hyderabad Metro project. “The partnership with Reliance Energy, for the time being, is confined to only the Hyderabad project. The alliance may not be there for other upcoming projects,” Bombardier sources added.

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