Hon’ble Prime Minister of India laid the Foundation Stone on 20th April 2022 at Railway’s Factory at Dahod, Gujarat
1200 Electric Locomotives will be Manufactured over a Period of 11 Years
Indian Railways has issued the Letter of Award (LoA) for Manufacturing and Maintenance of 9000 HP Electric Freight Locomotives to Siemens, India.
As a technology partner, Siemens will provide training to Railway Staff at Dahod for manufacturing the 9000 HP locomotives and at four depots at Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune for maintenance of the locomotives over the design life of 35 years.
Railways factory at Dahod, Gujarat, will manufacture 1200 high horse power (9000 HP) electric locomotives over a period of 11 years. It would entail manufacturing of 1200 locomotives and maintenance of these locomotives for 35 years.
The estimated value of contract is about INR 26000 Crore (about 3.2 Billion USD), excluding taxes and price variation.
Agreement with Siemens India will be signed within 30 days of issue of LoA. The proto-type locomotives are to be delivered in the coming two years.
Dahod Unit will be fully constructed for manufacturing these locomotives within a period of two years. Siemens, selected as technological partner, will manufacture these locomotives at Dahod and maintain these locomotives at four maintenance depots - Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur, Pune for a period of 35 years utilising Railway’s Manpower.
These 9000 HP locomotives will be the future workhorse for freight operation on Indian Railways. These locomotives are planned for use primarily on Western DFC and on graded sections of Railways for hauling container freight trains in double stack configuration of 4500 Tonnes at 75 kmph at 1 in 200 gradient and improve the average speed of such trains to around 50-60 kmph over the existing 20-25 kmph.
The quantum jump in the operating parameters will lead to increase in the throughput and also enhance line capacity. These locomotives, equipped with state of the art IGBT based propulsion technology, will provide savings in energy consumption due to regenerative braking technology.
Suitable economic drivers will ensure complete indigenization of the manufacturing which in turn will lead to development of ancillary manufacturing units making it a true ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The project will also lead to development of the Dahod region and generate employment. Dahod is a city on the banks of the Dudhimati River in Dahod District in the State of Gujarat.
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